AceShowbiz -

Ron Howard is set to direct Warner Bros.' upcoming movie "Pinocchio (2018)" starring Robert Downey Jr., according to The Tracking Board. The "In the Heart of the Sea" director is replacing previously attached director Paul Thomas Anderson, who stepped away from the project last fall.

Ron along with his producing partner Brian Grazer, and their Imagine banner will join forces with producer Dan Jinks of The Dan Jinks Company and Team Downey's Robert and Susan Downey. Downey Jr. Robert will star as Pinocchio's creator and father Geppetto.

Jon Berg, Chantal Nong, and Cate Adams are executive producing for Warner Bros., while Nick Nantell will oversee for The Dan Jinks Company.

Things are expected to move quickly after Ron joins the project. Jane Goldman, Michael Mitnick, and most recently, Bryan Fuller, have penned previous drafts of the film script based on the classic book by Carlo Collodi. There's still been no word on a new writer just yet, but you can expect Ron to have his words on the next screenwriter.

Details of the story are being kept under wraps, but the broad strokes follow Geppetto as he sets out to find Pinocchio when he goes missing.