Warner Bros. and Team Downey, Robert Downey Jr.’s production company, are collaborating on a live-action adaptation of the classic Pinocchio story.

The project has been in the works for a number of years, and Downey has been tweaking the script over the past six months. It was recently announced that the actor/filmmaker’s good friend Paul Thomas Anderson has signed on to write the screenplay and might direct the movie. Anderson has written and directed several imaginative and emotionally compelling films, including the Oscar-winning epic drama There Will Be Blood. According to reports, Downey was planning to star in Anderson’s offbeat crime dramedy Inherent Vice, but he had to bow out because of other obligations.

In Pinocchio, Downey will play the role of the woodcarver Geppetto, creator of the wooden puppet who dreams of becoming human.

The story is based on the 1883 novel by Italian writer Carlo Collodi, titled The Adventures of Pinocchio. The original tale has inspired many films, TV shows and other media. Screenwriter Michael Mitnick, best known The Giver, wrote the most current draft of the script for Downey’s upcoming adaptation.

The megatrend of developing live-action versions of classic children’s stories is being credited with prompting the Pinocchio adaptation to finally move forward.