Skyfall director Sam Mendes looks to have ditched one Disney remake, James and the Giant Peach, with a view to jump on board another. News today links him to one of their live-action adaptations, Pinocchio, as he hits very early stages of talks to helm the upcoming production.
Don’t get too excited, a source close to Mendes has revealed that the director isn’t committing himself to anything just yet and is keeping his options open as he concentrates his efforts on his West End Play The Ferryman where he makes his Royal Court debut at the Gielgud theatre in London.
Mendes, who is looking to bulk out his film schedule, was attached to The Voyeurs Motel, a project based on an article in The New Yorker by Talese. The film focused on a Colorado voyeur who bought a motel and renovated it to allow him to watch his guests having sex. DreamWorks had acquired the rights and assigned to it to Mendes, with Steven Spielberg’s blessing. After developing a script, however, Mendes saw a documentary called Gay Talese and the Voyeur that was developed with Talese’s cooperation. He then cancelled.
Disney are seriously raiding the vaults of their classic animation archives of late, coming off the back the Emma Watson led Beauty and the Beast, talks surrounding the casting of Jon Favreau’s “Lion King” have heated up with Donald Glover voicing Simba with Beyonce being sought after to voice Nala, and Niki Caro was also recently attached to direct “Mulan.” We have even heard that Ewan McGregor is in talks to play an adult Christopher Robin too.
With Mendes recently stepping down from directorial duties on the Bond franchise and has been looking at several projects. He will helm Sony’s adaptation of “My Favourite Thing Is Monsters,” based on Emil Ferris’ graphic novel.
