Entertainment

Do We Really Need Another 'Peter Pan' Reboot?

by Anna Klassen

Lucky for Hollywood, Peter Pan refuses to grow up, prompting the nth adaptation of the boy who chased his shadow. That's right, Joe Wright will direct a 'Peter Pan' reboot for Warner Bros. Wright is a British director who, at one point, was tied to that little-known Fifty Shades of Grey flick, but somehow swapped in S&M for childhood fairytales, but he's best known for directing a handful of period dramas starring Keira Knightley.

Producing the untitled feature film is Greg Berlanti, the man behind the CW's Arrow, and writing the script is actor-turned-screenwriter Jason Fuchs, who wrote Ice Age: Continental Drift. But do we really need another Pan adaptation? Columbia is currently developing their own version, Pan, starring Channing Tatum. And Disney, who let's face it, probably has more right to reinvent the original animated classic than any other studio (although Paramount did release a silent, 1924 version), is adapting the YA novel Peter and the Starcatchers with Gary Ross directing.

There have been many attempts to reinvent the boy in tights in the past, including spin-offs like 2004's Finding Neverland, and 1991's Steven Spielberg classic, Hook. But with Wright's pension for beautiful cinematography and romance, seen in works like Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, we can't wait to see if/how Wright will tackle the mermaids, fairies, and sexual tension encrypted in Pan's DNA.

But the reboot begs the question: Has Hollywood run dry of original ideas, or is Peter Pan a story that is so rich and relateable, it's impossible to overuse? We'd like to think it's the latter — after all, Peter, Wendy and Hook's story addresses issues of parental abandonment, loss of innocence and the fear of dying. It's a story that can be butchered (SyFy's Neverland) or turned into it's own awesome animal (1991's Hook). And while we can't expect another modern reboot starring Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, and Julia Roberts to blow our minds for a second time, let's all think happy thoughts and perhaps Wright will show us the right route to Neverland.

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