Ben Hibon

Aaron Eckhart, AnnaSophia Robb, and Sean Bean Join Ben Hibon’s Dark PETER PAN Re-Imagining

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 10th, 2011 at 12:36 pm

There are various Peter Pan re-imaginings scooting their way through development.  There’s the terrible-sounding prequel Pan that stars Channing Tatum and sets Peter and Captain Hook as brothers.  Disney is considering the a promising adaptation of Dave Berry and Ridley Pearson’s Peter and the Starcatchers, which has Peter and the Lost Boys as the pirates.  And then there’s my favorite among the adaptations—an action-thriller, also titled Pan, directed by Ben Hibon.  If you’re not familiar with Hibon, he directed the beautiful animated sequence in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.  Pan was originally set up as a directing vehicle for Guillermo del Toro, but Hibon came on board to helm the picture last November.  The story is a dark re-imagining of J.M. Barrie’s tale which has Captain Hook as a haunted former police detective in pursuit of a childlike kidnapper.

Now the first cast members have been revealed and it’s an exciting line-up: Aaron Eckhart, Sean Bean, and AnnaSophia Robb.  Hit the jump for more details on their characters.

Ben Hibon, Director of “Deathly Hallows” Animation Sequence, to Helm PAN; Options Rights to WORLDSHAKER

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 22nd, 2010 at 10:50 am

If you saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 this weekend, then you most likely marveled at the gorgeous animated sequence where Hermoine tells the tale of “The Deathly Hallows”.  As Curt said in our podcast, if the Academy nominated short animated films within a feature film, it would be a lock for an nomination.  Variety is now reporting that the director of that sequence, Ben Hibon, is attached to direct the fantasy action thriller Pan.  Based on a script by Ben Magid and originally set up as a directing vehicle for Guillermo del Toro, “The film puts a dark spin on J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan with Captain Hook as a haunted former police detective in pursuit of a childlike kidnapper.”  Casting is currently underway for a European shoot next fall.

Hibon, along with his producing partners Renee Tab and Tarik Heitmann, have also optioned Richard Harland’s steampunk novel, Worldshaker.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of the book.

Trailer for CG Zombie Film A.D. Hits the Web

by Matt Currie    Posted: February 3rd, 2010 at 4:13 pm

A trailer for an animated zombie flick called A.D. has just popped up on YouTube [via boingboing.net] and it’s freakin’ amazing.  Unfortunately, there’s currently no guarantee of a feature film to follow.  Writer Haylar Garcia and director Ben Hibon are still in search of a studio and are using the 1 ½ minute preview to generate interest;  hopefully, it’ll work, because this brief glimpse at the sleek and somber vision of post-apocalyptica that they’ve got in mind has seriously whetted my appetite for some CG zombie mayhem.  And it looks like this’ll be more than a straight-up hack-and-slash affair.  Just what type of market there’ll be for a down-beat animated zombie film is unclear, but I’m praying some studio takes a chance on this.  Hit the jump to get your first look at A.D. and to read an excerpt from an interview with the creative team:

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