"Dreams can come true, if you wish hard enough,” wrote J.M. Barrie. If, like us, you dreamt of a new Pan trailer last night, prepare to be blown over with a feather, because guess what? Yup, it’s here. UN-flipping-CANNY. Click on the YouTube below to immerse yourself in this strange sorcery.
Until now, Joe Wright’s Pan has kept its creative powder relatively dry. This promo, however, gives a clear flavour of what we can expect: something heightened, riotously colourful and more theatrical than an explosion in a luvvie factory. A Dardenne movie, it ain’t. The tenor is clearly one of fantasy cranked up to 12, with both Levi Miller’s Peter and Garrett Hedlund’s Hook getting origin stories that expand beyond the pages of Barrie’s book.
Peter is a wartime orphan evacuated far beyond the usual requirements of Luftwaffe avoidance. He winds up in Neverland where he falls under the even more nefarious spell of Hugh Jackman’s Blackbeard. Both Hedlund’s young Hook and Rooney Mara’s Tiger Lily offer the hand of friendship - although in the former’s case he'll need to get in early, what with that croc lurking out there somewhere - as the young Londoner prepares to do battle with the evil corsair.
Also aboard the good ship Jolly Roger are Amanda Seyfried, Cara Delevingne, Paul Kaye, Nonso Anozie, Adeel Akhtar and Kathy Burke. Originally scheduled for a summer release, Pan will now be landing on UK shores on October 16. Head here for a look at its first teaser.