Kevin Lima directing Tom Thumb

Along with the likes of Robin Hood, folklore stalwart Tom Thumb has popped up in many forms through the years. Now Warners is hoping he’ll be a worldwide money-spinner, and has hired Enchanted director Kevin Lima to bring him to the screen.

The studio has fast-tracked the new film version, hiring Saving Private Ryan scribe Robert Rodat to write a new origin story for the diminutive character, according to The Hollywood Reporter .

According to the fresh take on the tale, Thumb will start as a human-sized knight loaded with ego and arrogance who is shrunk down but uses the experience to learn the true meaning of heroism. But then, you expected that part, didn’t you?

16th Century Beginnings

Lima will tackle a film that currently plans to combine live-action footage with a CG Thumb, which will hopefully inject new life into a story that got its start back in the 1500s.

The folklore has been retold many times since then, including in a 1958 musical directed by George Pal and a darker take, which aired on the BBC back in 1993.

We doubt the new movie will go for dark themes – in fact, given Lima’s background with Disney and the success of Alvin And The Chipmunks, we wouldn’t be shocked to learn it’ll be another musical.

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Sam Ashurst is a London-based film maker, journalist, and podcast host. He's the director of Frankenstein's Creature, A Little More Flesh + A Little More Flesh 2, and co-hosts the Arrow Podcast. His words have appeared on HuffPost, MSN, The Independent, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, and many more, as well as of course for us here at GamesRadar+.