Among the surefire hits of next summer are the next two Marvel movies "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Ant-Man," "Furious 7," "Minions," Pixar‘s "Inside Out" and "Jurassic World," but there are a few projects that feel more like question marks. One such is Warner Bros‘ new prequel/reboot of Peter Pan, entitled simply "Pan."
Cinematic takes on J.M. Barrie‘s classic tale have a mixed track record: Disney’s animated version is a classic, but Steven Spielberg came unstuck with "Hook," and P.J. Hogan‘s film a decade ago was decent enough but underwhelmed at the box office. This new film, based on a hot Black List script by "Ice Age 4" writer Jason Fuchs, is set before the original tale, serving as an origin story for both the ageless flying orphan of the title (newcomer Levi Miller), and his one-handed nemesis Captain Hook (Garrett Hedlund).
The film, directed by "Atonement" and "Anna Karenina" helmer Joe Wright, also includes some other familiar faces, including Rooney Mara as Tiger Lilly, Amanda Seyfried in an unknown role, and Adeel Akhtar as Smee, but the big headliner is Hugh Jackman as fearsome pirate Blackbeard, and the star’s front-and-centre in the first images from the film, which just debuted on EW today.
We’re not entirely sold on Jackman’s look here, but otherwise these images are refreshingly free of the garish, psychedelic CGI-vomit look of Disney’s recent fairy tale movies, and we’re certainly keen to see what Wright can do when working in the blockbuster milieu. A trailer is expected to hit in the next few days, and you can look at the images below along with the first poster for the movie, focusing on Miller’s Peter (courtesy of Empire). "Pan" opens opposite Marvel’s "Ant-Man" on July 17th.
