Director Joe Wright (Anna Karenina) continues to fill out the cast for his large-scale Peter Pan reimagining Pan. We have Hugh Jackman onboard to play the villainous Blackbeard, Garret Hedlund set in a lead role as Hook, and now Rooney Mara is in negotiations to play Tiger Lily. The Warner Bros. film “tells the untold story of how a young orphan boy from London is spirited away to the magical Neverland where he finds great adventures that shape him into the hero known to generations as Peter Pan.” Hit the jump for more on the project, including Wright’s plans for an international reimagining of Neverland.
In the original J.M. Barrie story, Tiger Lily is a Native American princess living on the island of Neverland who is saved from Hook by Peter Pan. Wright’s version may differ significantly, however, since it feels like Hedlund's Hook may begin the film as a "good guy" before turning baddie; that or there are two true villains in the pic, which feels like a bit of overload.
With a filmmaker like Joe Wright, nothing is ever just “straightforward,” and indeed The Wrap notes that he intends for Pan to challenge preconceived notions of Neverland by reimagining the environment with an international and multi-racial bent. Though the director has tackled larger-scale pictures before like Atonement and Hanna, I’m incredibly excited to see what he does with a pure fantasy film on a massive budget. The pic is also being conceived in 3D, marking Wright’s first foray into three dimensions.
Wright and the studio are apparently looking to cast an unknown in the role of Peter Pan, so it makes sense that Blackbeard, Hook, and Tiger Lily are all recognizable faces. Mara is just coming off of a supporting role in Warner Bros.’ Best Picture nominee Her, and this marks her first foray into large-scale tentpole land—though one could argue The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a “tentpole” made strictly for adults.
The actress is currently filming the Todd Haynes drama Carol opposite Cate Blanchett, and she also has a supporting role in director Stephen Daldry’s adventurous drama Trash, which is expected to open in theaters this year. There’s also the untitled Terrence Malick film that she shot in 2012 and early 2013, but Malick takes his time in the editing room so there’s no telling when that’ll hit theaters. Pan is expected to go into production this summer in anticipation of a July 17, 2015 release date.