Paul Thomas Anderson to Pen Pinocchio Script for Robert Downey Jr

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Scheduling conflicts may have stopped them working together on Inherent Vice but now, Robert Downey Jr and Paul Thomas Anderson are set to unite on a live action version of Pinocchio.

The project has been talked about for some time but now the wheels have been set in motion when it was revealed that Robert Downey Jr was set to take on the role of Geppetto in the movie. Furthermore, he and Susan Downey are set to produce the movie through their production company.

Previously, a panoply of writers, including Bryan Fuller, Jane Goldman have had a crack at the script, while directors such as Tim Burton and Ben Stiller had been lined up to pull the strings but now it looks as though Boogie Nights writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson will pen the script and hopefully helm the project too.

Downey Jr had previously been linked with the lead role in Anderson's recent Inherent Vice, but had to pass when his Avengers: Age of Ultron commitments clashed. It's understood that Pinocchio, which is being developed in conjunction with Warner Bros, "has found new urgency", and so don't be surprised if things move sooner rather than later on the project now.

What’s more, there are two other live action Pinocchio movies in the works – one at Disney and the other, more intriguingly, on the already busy slate of director Guillermo del Toro.

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