Hanks, 64, is reportedly in early negotiations to play the part of Pinocchio’s humble toy creator, Geppetto, in a live-action remake of the 1940 Walt Disney animated classic.

Deadline reported that, after reading the script, Hanks reached out to director Robert Zemeckis, 68, to express his interest in being in the film. The pair have a decades-long working relationship — both won Oscars for their work on 1994’s “Forrest Gump,” which Zemeckis directed.

Disney has long been gunning to cast Hanks as the wood-carving Italian father in a reimagining of the classic story of the wooden puppet boy. The company approached him about the part years ago, when a Paul King-directed “Pinocchio” remake was in the works, according to Deadline. That production was never made, though. The outlet believes that Hanks and Zemeckis’ significant history together bodes better for this incarnation of the project.

While moving ahead on some projects, Disney announced late last month that it will be delaying the release of some of its biggest, finished blockbusters, including “Star Wars” and “Avatar.”

Its live-action version of “Mulan” will forgo its theatrical release and instead premiere on Disney Plus in September, at a rental price of $29.99. The decision came after Disney reported $5 billion in losses.

In April, less than a month after pausing production on all live-action films due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Disney announced that it is in early production for a live-action remake of its 1973 animated movie-musical “Robin Hood.”

Since recovering from the coronavirus, Hanks has kept busy, donating blood plasma to help others fight COVID-19, celebrating his 64th birthday and becoming a Greek citizen. His latest film, World War II drama “Greyhound” which he starred in and wrote the script for, was released on Apple TV+ on July 10.