Will Ben Stiller direct Robert Downey Jr. in 'Pinocchio'?

One of the many projects that Tim Burton found himself attached to was a live-action adaptation of Pinocchio, a film pitched to Warner Bros. by none other than Robert Downey Jr., who was expected to star as Gepetto. We've seen it develop in small ways over the last year, with the initial script by Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies) getting a rewrite by Jane Goldman (The Woman in Black), but it began to look like Burton was backing off. He recently agreed to direct the biopic, Big Eyes, so he may have already dropped out.

While doing press for Iron Man 3, Downey was asked about the state of Pinocchio, and he seems confident it will move forward, only it may be with Ben Stiller at the helm. The Italian site Sky Cine News quotes Downey as expressing a wish for his Tropic Thunder director to come aboard, but nothing seems to be confirmed just yet. Here is the quote via Google Translate...

"I want to make Pinocchio as a live action film and not resorting to ‘animation. I would like to do with Ben Stiller that sounds perfect to get into the story and then saw where it was written, I’d like it to be shot as much as possible in Italy, I think it is also a matter of consistency."

If Stiller does sign on it would be an interesting move for Stiller, who is earning some early praise for his remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Pinocchio would be the biggest project of his career, and could set him apart as more of a director than an actor. But Pinocchio films have also had a tough time finding their way to the big screen. Guillermo Del Toro's stop-motion version was recently put on the shelf, and the one in development by Shawn Levy has been in limbo for a couple of years.