Guillermo Del Toro Discusses Cancelled PINOCCHIO Film Project

Legendary director Guillermo del Toro is a busy man, always working on a project as a producer, director or writer. His Pinocchio passion project is one of those films that needed a big enough budget to get off the ground, but that movie won't be happening.

In a recent interview with IGN del Toro discussed the upcoming season of Trollhunters on Netflix, and he confirmed that his dark version of the little wooden boy won’t be coming to theaters.

“It’s not happening. But the idea was to do Pinocchio during the ascension of fascism in Italy, with Mussolini. It was a good time to discuss the idea of being a puppet or being a human, but you know, it’s not in progress.”

When previously talking about the movie Del Toro explained what he was looking to do with it:

"In a strange way, two of the stories that fascinate me the most are kind of related, which is Frankenstein and Pinocchio. They are both about creatures that are created and then get lost in a world they don’t understand. And they are both journeys of understanding, and journeys of evolution of the spirit. When we started working on Pinocchio we knew very clearly that we wanted to make it different in the sense that it is not just a fairy tale but a fairy tale that actually moves you and emotionally affects you. It deals with ideas that are relevant to everyone, to all mankind in a way."

The master director also revealed recently that he will be taking a year off after The Shape of Water comes out, which is already garnering high praise.

“I’m 53, I want to not know what I’m doing next, it’s like a privilege. That’s why I’m taking the year off, as a director to really think about what I’m doing next. All of those projects, some of them happen and some of them don’t. The natural state of a movie is not to happen. That’s the reality.”

Its kind of sad to know that del Toro is going to be off the directorial radar for the next year, but I'm sure the guy would love some time off.

How do you feel about del Toro's version of Pinocchio not becoming a real boy? You can check out some previously released concept art from his film below.