And bizarrely, Bob Hoskins will be playing Smee for the second time in his career. That’s some typecasting…
The cast includes Rhys Ifans as James Hook, Anna Friel as Captain Elizabeth Bonny, Bob Hoskins as Smee (a part he previously played in Hook ), and Raoul Trujillo and Charlie Rowe as Peter Pan. A four-hour mini-series (that will no doubt feel like eight) it is described as, “Sweeping in time from the turbulent seas of the pirates of the Caribbean to the back alleys of Dickensian London to a world of pure imagination, Neverland is the inspired origin story of one of the most cherished characters of all time, Peter Pan.
“Raised on the streets of turn-of-the century London, orphaned Peter (Rowe) and his pals survive by their fearless wits as cunning young pickpockets. Now, they've been rounded up by their mentor Jimmy Hook (Ifans) to snatch a priceless – some believe, magical – treasure which transports them to another world. Neverland is a realm of white jungles and legendary mysteries of eternal youth, where unknown friends and enemies snatched from time welcome the new travelers with both excitement and trepidation. These groups include a band of 18th century pirates led by the power-mad Elizabeth Bonny (Friel), and the Native American Kaw tribe led by a Holy Man (Trujillo), which has protected the secret of the tree spirits from Bonny and her gang for ages – and that has meant war. But as the fight to save this strange and beautiful world becomes vital, Hook, Peter, and the ragamuffin lost boys consider that growing old somewhere in time could be less important than growing up, right here in their new home called Neverland .”
Oh well, it can’t be worse than the skateboarding Lost Boys and hairy-chested, middle-aged Peter Pan that Spielberg gave us… can it?
