First announced in 2010, Warner Bros. is developing a live-action take on Pinocchio with producer Dan Jinks and a script from Bryan Fuller. Now, The Hollywood Reporter brings word that the studio is in talks with Tim Burton to direct and Robert Downey Jr. to potentially star as Geppetto.

The story originated in Italian author Carlo Collodi's novel "The Adventures of Pinocchio," published at first as a serial beginning in 1881. In 1940, Walt Disney Pictures released the most famous adaptation, though many subsequent takes have followed, including another project currently in production. That Pinocchio film is a stop-motion feature being developed through the Jim Henson Company with a script from Guillermo del Toro and Gris Grimley.

Tim Burton's most recent film was 2010's Alice in Wonderland and, this year, he's set to release Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie. Downey, meanwhile, recently appeared in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and can next be seen in Marvel's The Avengers.

(Photo Credit: Joe Kan / Maria La Torre/ WENN.com)