Writer/director Guillermo del Toro is known for attacking each project he selects with unbridled passion, and it’s a strategy that’s always served him well. As his latest film Nightmare Alley is enjoying its run as an awards circuit darling and cult classic in the making, one could be forgiven to think he’d take some time to work on his next project and sink into those efforts. Lucky for the world, del Toro’s next project, the Netflix original film Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, has just shown its first trailer. Featuring killer stop-motion, and the voice of one Ewan McGregor, it’s a teaser that lives up to the practice in every way.
Recently debuted by Netflix, our first look at this new spin on Carlo Collodi’s classic fairy tale looks just as stunning as you’d think. Introducing us to this lush world through the character of Sebastian J. Cricket (McGregor,) we’re told that the story we all know from our childhood isn’t quite what happened. How does Sebastian know? Well, in pure del Toro fashion, he tells us that he lived in the heart of Pinocchio himself; so he’d definitely be an expert. Co-directing this stop-motion adventure with animator Mark Gustafson, the world of this new frontier in classic storytelling already has us wanting more.
Not to be confused with Disney’s live-action remake starring Tom Hanks as Gepetto, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is going to be playing things a bit differently alright. The director has said as much throughout his long march through development hell, a phase that almost saw the film never happen. Set in fascist Italy, this variant of the oft told story involving the little wooden boy trying to become real will include the rise of Mussolini in its telling. But just like director Robert Zemeckis’ competing project, there’s already a hell of a cast involved to make it all happen.
Besides Ewan McGregor playing Sebastian J. Cricket, the rest of the roster for this project includes Game of Thrones and The Strain vet David Bradley in the role of Gepetto, and newcomer Gregory Mann as Pinocchio himself. Not to mention, Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz and John Turturro are also on the bandwagon. And it wouldn’t be a Guillermo del Toro movie without members of his repertory cast present, as seen in Nightmare Alley stars Cate Blanchett, Tim Blake Nelson, and Ron Perlman rounding out just a handful of the cast in this ambitious retelling.
For over a decade, Guillermo del Toro has wanted to tell the story of Pinocchio. Thanks to Netflix rescuing the film when they did, that dream is now a reality. While this quick first glimpse is absolutely spellbinding, del Toro’s labeling of this version as a “brutalist fable” akin to Frankenstein suggests that beauty will eventually give way to some sort of horror and peril. In other words, this is exactly the wheel house that the award winning and fan beloved creator has been playing in since day one; and the finished product is something we should definitely be looking forward to.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio will be heading exclusively to Netflix in December 2022. While we don’t know when exactly it will debut, you can check out the lineup of original films we know are heading to Netflix. Head over to the 2022 Netflix Movie Release Dates calendar, and find out what’s coming to a streaming device and/or theater near you.
