Paul King is headed to Disney.
After being attached, for many years, to their live-action version of “Pinocchio” (eventually directed by Robert Zemeckis), King is back at the Magic Kingdom to direct “Prince Charming,” TheWrap has learned. He will also co-write the script with Simon Barnaby and Jon Croker.
Prince Charming, of course, is the character from “Cinderella,” who goes searching for the title character using the glass slipper she left behind. Plot details of this spinoff story are being kept under wraps.
King was attached to “Pinocchio” way back in 2018, after Sam Mendes departed the project. Farnby, who worked on the scripts for King’s “Paddington 2” and “Wonka” (and appeared as an actor in the first “Paddington”), wrote King’s version of “Pinocchio,” as well.
Earlier this year, King told TheWrap that he loved “Pinocchio” but that “it didn’t work out for personal reasons, which had nothing to do with the movie at all.” He also shared with us the final sequence of his version of the movie, which involves Geppetto and Pinocchio saying goodbye. (He admitted to not having seen the Zemeckis version.)
King went on to make Warner Bros.’ “Wonka,” which was a surprise musical smash starring Timothée Chalamet that earned more than $600 million worldwide.
