Oscar-winner Roberto Benigni is
to play Geppetto in a new adaptation of Pinocchio by Matteo
Garrone, sources said Friday.
Benigni, who won the best actor Oscar for Life Is Beautiful
in 1999, is returning to the big screen after a seven-year
hiatus.
In 2002 Benigni wrote, directed and starred in his own take
on Pinocchio, which was a critical and commercial flop.
Gomorrah, Tales of Tales and Dogman director Garrone has
written the new live-action version of Pinocchio, an
Italo-French co-production between Archimede, RAI Cinema and Le
Pacte, in association with the Recorded Picture Company.
Garrone, 50, said "Finally directing Pinocchio and directing
Roberto Benigni are two dreams which come true in a single
film".
Benigni, 65, said "Playing Geppetto directed by Matteo
Garrone is one of the forms of happiness".
Benigni's last directorial effort was The Tiger and the Snow,
in 2005, in which he also starred.
His last acting turn was a cameo in Woody Allen's 2012 film
To Rome With Love.
Garrone said: "Collodi's puppet and I have been chasing each
other since I was a child, drawing my first storyboards. As
years passed, I have always felt something familiar in the
story, as if Pinocchio had penetrated my imagination to such an
extent that many have found traces of his adventures in my
previous films.
"Also with Roberto it's a chase that started many years ago:
I met him as a child, thanks to my father (theatre critic Nico
Garrone, one of the first to write about Benigni at the start of
his career).
"It's an extraordinary chance for me to have the opportunity
of finally working together with Roberto.
"Pinocchio will be a film for families, big and small, and
there's no one like Roberto, who has amused and moved millions
of spectators across the world, and is able to touch an audience
of all ages. I want to thank him for the trust that he has shown
accepting to share with me this new and daring adventure."
Benigni added, "A great character, a great story, a great
director."
Toni Servillo was previously aboard for the role of Geppetto.
Guillermo Del Toro has a stop-motion version of the classic
tale ongoing with Netflix.
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