Fans of director Sam Mendes will not see the director helm a Disney film. At least for now.
Mendes, who directed critically-acclaimed films like "Skyfall" and "American Beauty," has left the project in which he was supposed to direct the live-action version of the classic Disney film "Pinocchio."
Tracking Board reports that Mendes elected to drop out of the "Pinocchio" movie project. It is still in its infancy stage so there is still a lot of time for Disney to find a replacement for the director. The studio has managed to nab some big name auteurs to work on their future movie projects, including Tim Burton who will be helming "Dumbo," Guy Ritchie for "Alladin," and Jon Favreau for "The Lion King."
It is interesting to note that on the day of Mendes' exit from the Disney project, a report also came out about Annapurna Pictures closing a deal to get the rights for "Bond 25" in collaboration with MGM Pictures. Even though Mendes has declared that he's done with the James Bond franchise, the news about the deal could entice him back to the spy franchise to direct a Bond film for the third time.
"Pinocchio," which was shown in 1940, was the second Disney animated musical film to be shown after its success with "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." The film's initial release was not a box-office hit for Disney, but it made history by being the first animated film to win an Academy Award and eventually earned money for the studio after its reissue.
The exit of Mendes could make Disney reconsider and get Guillermo del Toro. The director recently dropped his plans to make his stop-motion version of the film that he has also been developing for a long time. It would be interesting to see del Toro's highly imaginative and visual take on the classic children film being translated into a live-action version.
