The Tracking Board are spreading the story that Richie Cunningham - sorry, I mean, Ron Howard - is all but set to direct Warner Bros. planned big-screen redo of Pinocchio, apparently looking to crest the wave of live action children's classics currently lighting up the box office. Robert Downey Jr. is still attached to appear as Gepetto, in a story which would see the old man searching for a once-again wayward Pinocchio (can't that little f*cker just stay put?). If you're surprised at Downey's involvement in the project, you might be less so once you discover that he and his wife Susan are actually co-producing the project - so it makes sense that the former would want to step in and play a more active role. Even more surprising is that Paul Thomas Anderson was the last director to be attached to the project - but just like a Darren Aronofsky-directed Wolverine film was a pipe dream a few years back, so too was a PTA Pinocchio.Just for perspective, this new Pinocchio films is in addition to the recent, extremely successful ventures of Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Cinderella, the upcoming 're-imaginings' of Beauty and the Beast and two (two!) Jungle Book movies, as well as the Mary Poppins sequel (which recently scored Emily Blunt in the lead). Hollywood really know how to beat a dead horse. The Untitled Pinocchio Movie currently has no scheduled release date. Ron Howard's third Dan Brown adaptation, Inferno, is set for release on 14 October. Robert Downey Jr. can next be seen in Captain America: Civil War, due out on 29 April in the UK and 6 May in the US.