Disney+ has just released a trailer for a new live-action remake of its 1953 classic Peter Pan, starring Jude Law as the nefarious Captain Hook.
The adaptation, which is called Peter Pan & Wendy, follows much of the original 1953 storyline: Wendy Darling and her brothers meet Peter Pan, a boy who refuses to grow up, in London.
He takes them to Neverland where she meets a motley crew that will be recognised by fans of the original animation: there’s Tinker Bell, Captain Hook – as well as many new friends and foes.
“Tell me...” says Law’s Hook ominously over the trailer as it opens. “How did you come to Neverland?”
Wendy is staggering around a beach and is quickly found by the Lost Boys, who are now a mixed bunch: “But you’re not all boys,” she says. “So?” they reply.
She is then taken further into Neverland, wandering through glades and forests to what seems like a crumbling castle that has been overrun by trees.
“Peter found it... just like her found all of us,” says one of the Lost Boys. “Just like he found me,” says Wendy.
Then things in the trailer intensify: there are flashbacks to her real life in London, conversations with her mother and to her playing the piano in her living room. Then it’s back to Neverland where there are sword fights with pirates, horse rides across open fields, and flying boats.
And, of course, there’s Peter Pan, in his distinct green trousers, top and hat, getting up to mischief.
“We set out to craft a film that honors both the original J.M. Barrie text and Walt Disney’s animated adaptation,” said director David Lowery. “We wanted to invigorate our retelling with emotional sincerity, an open heart and a grand yearning for adventure.”
The film is led by a relatively new cast with 16-year-old British actor Alexander Molony playing Peter Pan and 15-year-old American actor Ever Anderson playing Wendy Darling.
They are backed up by a starry cast that includes Law, Yara Shahidi (Grown-ish) who will play Tinker Bell, comedian Jim Gaffigan who plays Captain Hook’s first mate Mr. Smee, and Molly Parker (House of Cards) and Alan Tudyk (Arrested Development) who play Wendy’s mother and father.
Lowery directed and wrote the 2021 epic medieval fantasy The Green Knight and the 2013 romantic drama Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, which starred Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck.
This isn’t the first adaptation of the children’s classic by any means: Steven Spielberg made Hook in 1991 which starred Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams, and Joe Wright’s Pan was released in 2015 – but neither film did brilliantly at the box office.
