It should come as no surprise that Disney’s constant live-action reimaginings of their classic animated films is bringing them a nice chunk of change. Though they speedily put those films into development, one of their films just hit a major speed bump.

According to new reports, Academy Award winner Sam Mendes will no longer be directing the live-action take of Disney’s Pinocchio. More on the story below.

The Tracking Board says that Mendes has walked out of Pinocchio, having been attached to the film since May. It’s not exactly clear why Mendes walked out of the project, but Disney will have more than plenty of time to figure out how to fix this. Especially now that films like Jon Favreau’s The Lion King, Niki Caro’s Mulan, Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin, Tim Burton’s Dumbo, and Marc Forster’s Christopher Robin is already filming or in the development process.

Mendes made his directorial debut with American Beauty, for which he won an Academy Award for best director. He then went on to direct films like Road To Perdition, Jarhead, Revolutionary Road, and the last two bond films Skyfall and Spectre. And that may be the reason why he left, with a huge emphasis on “may.” There is some speculation that since Bond 25 will be the final time that Daniel Craig plays the 007 spy, Mendes would be the one to end Craig’s tenure as the character since he is so well-versed with that world. Again, that is just pure speculation. But let’s not forget that Denis Villeneuve, Yann Demange, and David Mackenzie are all frontrunners for the job.

This wouldn’t be the first time that one of Disney’s live-action adaptations of their animated films has hit a creative standstill. We’ll keep you up to date on the progress of this film as it continues to develop.

[Source: The Tracking Board]