Tom Hanks in talks to play Geppetto in live-action Pinocchio

Disney is reportedly eyeing Tom Hanks to play Mister Geppetto in the live-action retelling of Pinocchio.

According to Deadline, talks are still in the very early stages, but Hanks has read the script and expressed interest in the role to director Robert Zemeckis. Hanks has long been one of Disney's top picks for the role and was approached in 2018 when Paddington director Paul King was attached to direct, yet the project never came to fruition. Zemeckis and Hanks have worked together as a director/lead actor duo on Forrest Gump, Cast Away, and Polar Express, so the odds for Hanks' casting are better this time around.

Zemeckis is a veteran Hollywood director and writer with credits dating back to the late '70s. He's known for the aforementioned Hanks flicks, as well as the Back to the Future trilogy, Contact, A Christmas Carol, and Beowulf. The script is being co-written by Zemeckis and Chris Weitz, who's written screenplays for Cinderella and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Hanks' performance as Mister Rogers in 2019's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood earned him his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Upcoming roles include the 2020 Western drama News of the World – another re-team for Hanks, this time with director Paul Greengrass – and the sci-fi Bios in 2021.

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.