Robert Downey Jr. Wants Ben Stiller For ‘Pinocchio’?
By Angie Han/April 18, 2013 5:00 pm EST
Italian publications have quoted Downey as saying that he hopes Ben Stiller will direct the film. The pair previously worked together on 2008’s Tropic Thunder. Hit the jump for more info.
Downey discussed his Pinocchio plans while promoting Iron Man 3 in Italy. “I would like to make it with Ben Stiller,” Downey told Sky Italia. Stiller’s involvement is very much theoretical at this point, but if Downey can make it happen he seems like a good pick. While Stiller’s last few features have been straightforward comedies, the buzz out of CinemaCon for his latest, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, suggest that he’s up for the task of directing something a little more heartfelt.
There is also the chance that there has been some poor translation in the interview, and that Downey wants Stiller for the film as an actor, rather than director.
Written by Bryan Fuller and rewritten by Jane Goldman, Pinocchio will follow Gepetto’s attempt to reunite with his missing marionette. Speaking with LaRepublicca, Downey expressed his desire to “honor the original intent” of Carlo Collodi’s book while giving it a broader appeal by “amplifying the fantasy elements” and delving into the story’s “complex mythology.” He added that he hoped to shoot as much of the film as possible in Collodi’s native Italy.
Downey also spoke about Pinocchio in his recent GQ profile:
My first pitch! I got real excited about it. I was just thinking about Geppetto as a cross between Jake LaMotta and Chico Marx. It’s such a vital story, but it’s really about this working-class weirdo who invests this inanimate object with all of the qualities he doesn’t have. I’m just crazy about the idea…. To me a wooden boy is a real boy who doesn’t feel like he’s acknowledged.
[Thanks to /Film reader Colin for the tip!]
