Hugh Jackman is now officially set to play the villain in Joe Wright‘s Peter Pan reboot, previously titled PAN. In December, we heard that Jackman was in talks, but now we have confirmation coming a day after Garrett Hedlund was named as Captain Hook in the film. While the story is supposedly a reboot/origin for the Peter Pan story, based on the casting I am thinking this is more of a Captain Hook origin with Peter likely showing up right at the end of the film. This would set up the sequel as the true Peter Pan story. This could be why the film is now dropping the PAN title in favor of something else.
WB President Greg Silverman announced the news today along with this statement:
“Hugh Jackman always delivers indelible performances that resonate with audiences. We know he will create a Blackbeard who will be a powerful presence in this original Peter Pan adventure.”
PAN has been in the news due to the fact it has taken over the vacated release date of July 17, 2015 after BATMAN VS SUPERMAN was delayed to the following year. Joe Wright has had a varied directorial career with PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, ATONEMENT, THE SOLOIST, HANNA, and most recently ANNA KARENINA. His visual style will be put to the test with PAN being his biggest project to date. He proved with HANNA he can bring an unconventional approach to action scenes and PAN would most definitely be featuring plenty.
The question that remains is whether he will be going for an all out fantasy approach or if he plans to ground PAN in a more realistic world. Seeing as this is a complete retelling from the screenplay by Jason Fuchs, anything goes.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed