Long have Guillermo del Toro’s monsters haunted our screens. Warped, oddly mesmerising spectres that trigger our most throat-constricting fears and deepest human desires. And now, the Shape of Water and Pan’s Labyrinth auteur has announced the full cast for his Netflix reboot of Pinocchio, and it’s a glittering show.
Titular character Pinocchio will be played by newcomer Gregory Man, with Ewan McGregor as his chirpy companion Jiminy Cricket, and Tilda Swinton as the Turquoise Fairy, and Game of Thrones‘ actor David Bradley taking on the wood carver Gepetto. Also in the cast is Stranger Things‘ Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, Ron Perlman, and two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz.
According to Netflix, it will be set during the rise of Fascism in Mussolini’s Italy and will be a darker version of the classic children’s tale – based on Gris Grimly’s design from his 2002 edition of the 1883 Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. News of the stop-motion remake began churning the rumour mill nearly a decade ago, with fans remaining patient regarding news of the film’s development.
“We have spent a long time curating a remarkable cast and crew and have been blessed by continuous support from Netflix to quietly and carefully soldier on, barely missing a beat,” explained del Toro in a statement.
We’re watching this space very closely indeed.
Introducing the epic cast of @RealGDT's stop-motion PINOCCHIO film:
Newcomer Gregory Mann as Pinocchio
Ewan McGregor as Cricket
David Bradley as GepettoPlus:
Tilda Swinton
Christoph Waltz
Finn Wolfhard
Cate Blanchett
John Turturro
Ron Perlman
Tim Blake Nelson
Burn Gorman pic.twitter.com/Jo5HtfdVc4— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) August 19, 2020