Netflix has announced the cast for its hotly anticipated stop-motion remake of the childhood classic Pinocchio - and oh my, was it worth waiting for.
Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro will write, direct and produce the animated musical reboot, which was first announced back in 2018 and is set for release in 2021.
Until now, further details of the movie have remained hush-hush, but now a glittering cast list has been confirmed, featuring some seriously big names.
Netflix Film tweeted the full cast list yesterday, writing: "Introducing the epic cast of @RealGDT's stop-motion PINOCCHIO film" and listing the all-important roles.
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Newcomer Gregory Mann will take on the lead role of Pinocchio, while big screen favourite Ewan McGregor will star as Cricket - a new spin on the beloved Jiminy Cricket.
David Bradley, AKA Filch in Harry Potter and Walder Frey in Game Of Thrones - will play Gepetto, the craftsman who built Pinocchio.
Elsewhere we have Oscar-winning talent Tilda Swinton, Christoph Walz and Cate Blanchett.
Not to mention Stranger Things' Finn Wolfhard and John Turturro (The Batman) along with Golden Globe winner Ron Perlman (Nightmare Alley), Tim Blake Nelson (Watchmen) and Burn Gorman (Enola Holmes).
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Taking inspiration from Carlo Collodi's magical tale of a wooden puppet who becomes a 'real boy' through his father's wish, the film is described by Deadline as "a story of love and disobedience as Pinocchio struggles to live up to his father's expectations".
"After years of pursuing this dream project, I found my perfect partner in Netflix," del Toro told Deadline.
"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. We all love and practice animation with great passion and believe it to be the ideal medium to retell this classic story in a completely new way."
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Production for the movie reportedly began in late 2019 but was halted due to coronavirus.
The script is co-written by Del Toro and Patrick McHale, while the Oscar-winning Alexandre Desplat will write the score.
Oh, and did we mention that the film's puppets are reportedly being built by Mackinnon and Saunders, the creative geniuses behind Corpse Bride?
2021 can't come soon enough!
Featured Image Credit: PA / DisneyTopics: TV and Film, TV News, TV Entertainment, Netflix
