Paul Thomas Anderson is writing the screenplay for Warner Bros. and Team Downey’s retelling of “Pinocchio.”

Although Anderson has only been hired to pen the script, there's a possibly he could direct the movie as well, seeing that the director has hardly ever just written a movie without also directing the project.

Michael Mitnick penned the most recent draft and Downey, along with his wife and producing partner Susan Downey, will produce along with Dan Jinnks.

Downey is onboard to play Geppetto in the tale about a wooden puppet who wants to become a human boy. Downey has been developing the project for some time but has held off given Disney’s surge of live-action retellings of animated classics and fairy tales but Anderson’s attachment should get the wheels moving quickly on this priority at the studio.

The film marks the first project Anderson has worked on since “Inherent Vice,” which also earned Anderson and Oscar nomination for his screenplay.

He is repped by CAA.

Things have been pretty quiet on the front of Warner Bros.’ live-action Pinocchio picture ever since Paul Thomas Anderson was reported to be writing and possibly directing the adaptation. While the addition of an auteur like Anderson would have given the film a huge PR boost, it’s now looking like he won’t be directing after all. There’s no word on whether or not Anderson’s script for the film is still in process, or even if it will be used at all. If and when another director steps in, they’ll likely want to tailor it more to their vision as a solely Paul Thomas Anderson-written script without Paul Thomas Anderson in the director’s chair could prove unwieldy; Anderson has never written something, even a video short, that he didn’t also direct.

Then again, Warner Bros.’ Pinocchio still has Robert Downey Jr. attached, and that guy’s no slouch. But keep in mind that the studio heads are now looking at this adaptation in light of the disastrous box office and critical performance of Joe Wright’s Pan which has yet to even earn back its budget. If Hugh Jackman couldn’t draw audiences in, I’m not sure if RDJ’s name on the marquee will be enough; WB likely feels the same at the moment, but that’s neither been confirmed nor denied.

News of PTA’s decision not to direct Pinocchio comes courtesy of The Wrap’s Jeff Sneider:

Jeff Sneider
@TheInSneider
Hearing Paul Thomas Anderson won't direct PINOCCHIO & Alfonso Cuaron passed on DOCTOR SLEEP after being rumored to direct earlier this year.

So while Warner Bros.’ Pinocchio project remains rather lifeless, Disney also has a similar movie in the works. We haven’t heard much on that film since April of this year. There’s also a stop-motion Pinocchio project from Guillermo del Toro that’s been tinkered with for quite some time. At this point, it’s anyone’s guess just which project will be the first to bring the titular wooden doll to life on the big screen

Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard is attached to direct Warner Bros.’ PINOCCHIO, sources have confirmed, a project that has been climbing the rungs of the development ladder over the past few years. Howard replaces Paul Thomas Anderson, who was previously attached to write and direct the project, before he stepped away last fall.

Howard, his producing partner Brian Grazer, and their Imagine banner will join forces with producer Dan Jinks of The Dan Jinks Company and Team Downey’s Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey. Downey Jr. is also attached to star in the role of Geppetto.

The family-oriented film has been on Downey Jr.’s radar for some time, and now that Howard is involved, things are expected to move quickly. Jane Goldman, Michael Mitnick, and most recently, Bryan Fuller, have penned previous drafts of the script based on the classic book by Carlo Collodi, and while there’s been no word on a new writer just yet, you can expect Howard to have his say on the project’s next screenwriter.

The story details are being kept under wraps, but the broad strokes follow Geppetto as he sets out to find Pinocchio when he goes missing.

Live-action adaptations of Pinocchio have been done before – Roberto Benigni had a take on the story in 2002 – but this latest version is expected to follow the trend of recent live-action adaptations of popular children stories like Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, and Cinderella all of which have found enormous commercial success by tweaking the details of familiar narratives to suit a broader audience.

The forthcoming Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, and The Jungle Book: Origins are all expected to follow a similar formula, drawing in audiences with recognizable properties, but subverting their expectations. (Howard was once in talks to direct Warner Bros.’ Jungle Book: Origins after Alejandro González Iñárritu left the project, but Andy Serkis eventually landed the gig.)