Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz to star in Netflix’s 'Pinocchio’

Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard, and Cate Blanchett are among the stars that have boarded the cast of Guillermo Del Toro's stop-motion musical project Pinocchio, Netflix has announced.

Directed by Del Toro and Mark Gustafson, the film is a dark retelling of the Carlo Collodi classic children's tale about a puppet who wants to be a real live boy.

Pinocchio will be set in Italy during the 1930s, a particularly fraught historical moment and a time when fascism was on the rise and Benito Mussolini was consolidating control of the country.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, newcomer Gregory Mann will play the titular role.

Veteran actor David Bradley, known for playing Argus Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter film series, and the slimy, conniving Walder Frey in Game of Thrones is cast as Pinnochio's creator-father Gepetto.

Ewan McGregor will play the protagonist's conscience keeper Cricket, while Swinton will essay the role of the Turquoise Fairy.

John Turturro, best known for alternate history drama The Plot Against America, del Toro's frequent collaborator Ron Perlman, Watchmen star Tim Blake Nelson, and Enola Holmes actor Burn Gorman also round the cast.

Del Toro is also cementing his ties with Netflix through a multi-year agreement with the streamer, which encompasses film and series, and will see the Oscar winner juggle triple roles as writer, director and producer.

"We have spent a long time curating a remarkable cast and crew and have been blessed by continuous support from Netflix to quietly and carefully soldier on, barely missing a beat.

"Production has continued uninterrupted during the pandemic, with the producers coming up with creative ways to take safety precautions on a stop-motion set," he said.

Del Toro, who is also on board as producer, has co-written the script with Patrick McHale.

The song lyrics are by del Toro and Katz, with music and score by Alexandre Desplat, who also won an Oscar for his work on the director's The Shape of Water.

Illustrator Gris Grimly created the original design for the Pinocchio character. The film's puppets are being built by Mackinnon and Saunders.

Del Toro is already involved in several projects at Netflix - the animation series Wizards, the feature Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, to be released in 2021, the live action anthology series Guillermo del Toro Presents 10 After Midnight and the live-action directing project Nightmare Alley, which had halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The makers are hoping to release Pinocchio in theatres as well.