David Lowery is returning to the Disney live-action realm for Peter Pan & Wendy, following on from 2016's Pete's Dragon.
The cast includes Ever Anderson as Wendy and Alexander Molony as Peter Pan, but Lowery's film has an ace up the sleeve of its billowing pirate coat in the form of Jude Law, who plays crocodile-fearing sea dog Captain Hook.
In sync from their very first Zoom meeting, the pair had to fully flesh out a two dimensional character for live-action. "We really wanted to understand why Hook hates Peter Pan so much," Lowery tells Total Film magazine in the latest issue, which features Fast X on the cover. "Where does that anger come from? We did our best to build out a story for the two characters, and a sense of history, and a sense of mythology."
But why Law? "You want someone who can lean into the moustache-twirling when it's appropriate but then also break your heart when you need that to happen as well," Lowery smiles. "I can't think of anyone better to straddle those two things in the same way that he straddles the crocodile's jaw." Oh, snap!
Lowery also reveals more about his take on Peter and Wendy, pointing out that "the story ultimately is, and always has been, Wendy's," even calling Pan "incidental" to Wendy's journey.
"I really wanted to do something different with Peter," he says. "Peter, in the animated movie, tricks us into thinking that we like him. But he's an incredibly unlikeable character! In our film, he is very serious, to a fault, about what he thinks is the most important thing in the world, which is not growing up. It becomes a sticking point between him and Wendy."
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Peter Pan & Wendy arrives on Disney Plus this April 28. For much more on the movie, grab a copy of the new issue of Total Film magazine when it hits shelves (and digital newsstands) this Thursday, March 30. Check out the covers below:
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