Disney’s Peter Pan and Wendy Live-Action Remake Finds Its Tinker Bell
Courtesy of movieweb.com:
Disney has cast Grown-ish actress Yara Shahidi to play Tinker Bell in Peter Pan and Wendy. Yara Shahidi joins Jude Law, who will play Captain Hook, along with previously announced actors Alexander Molony and Ever Anderson, who will portray the title characters, respectively. While it was originally though that the movie was going to be a Disney+ project, it appears that the studio is going the theatrical route instead, according to sources close to the project. That has yet to be officially confirmed by Disney at this time.
Yara Shahidi is best-known for starring on sitcom Black-ish as Zoey. Her character was so popular that she was given her own series, Young-ish, which documented Zoey’s college years. Shahidi also starred in last year’s A Sun Is Also A Star. Now, the 20-year old actress is heading to the big screen as Tinker Bell in Peter Pan and Wendy. Additionally, Shahidi isn’t the only Black-ish cast member to get a recent Disney role. Her co-star Halle Bailey is playing Ariel in The Little Mermaid remake.
Jude Law was announced as Captain Hook in Peter Pan and Wendy back in July, but apparently the studio originally had other plans. Will Smith reportedly was asked to take on the Captain Hook role before Law, but he declined and went on to star as the Genie in the live action remake of Aladdin instead. It was also reported that Joker star Joaquin Phoenix was also approached to take on the villainous role in the upcoming live-action adaptation, but he also declined. Dustin Hoffman, Jason Isaacs, and, most recently, Garret Hedlund have all played Captain Hook on the screen.
David Lowery is directing Peter Pan and Wendy from a script he co-wrote with Pete’s Dragon co-writer Toby Halbrooks. It was reported at the beginning of this year that the aim was to start production in April and work until August, though that did not pan out for anybody. The public health crisis put a stop to that, along with any other major studio productions that were already working or planning to get to work during the past 7 months. With that being said, it is unclear when Disney plans on getting Peter Pan and Wendy up and running.
Peter Pan and Wendy does not have a release date at this time, though that news could be coming soon. It was not on Disney’s list of upcoming release dates that they just revealed, which went all the way through December 2022. However, there are more than a few dates that are dedicated to “Untitled Disney Live Action,” starting in November 2021 and spread out through 2022. For now, we’ll just have to see when it will be safe to start production on Peter Pan and Wendy. The Tinker Bell casting news was originally reported by Deadline.
