As revealed by Collider, Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) is teaming with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions for Zanbato, a new project which he is set to write and direct.
While plot details are being kept under wraps, the film reportedly follows a young girl between the ages of 10 and 15 who possesses lethal fighting skills, akin to Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass or Alita from Alita: Battle Angel.
Del Toro subsequently took to Twitter to confirm the news, revealing that the project has actually been in development for around six years, as well as clarifying that it is “NOT a Ninja project… but there are Ninjas in it.”
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BTW- NOT a Ninja project.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) March 1, 2019
Del Toro is currently gearing up to go into production on his long-gestating Pinocchio movie for Netflix, so at this point it’s unclear what kind of timeframe the filmmaker may be looking at for Zanbato. And of course, that is assuming it doesn’t go the way of his many unproduced projects…