PETER PAN

Year: 2003
USA: Universal Studios
UK: UIP (UK)
Cast: Jason Isaacs, Jeremy Sumpter, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Olivia Williams, Ludivine Sagnier, Richard Briers, Lynn Redgrave, Geoffrey Palmer, Harry Newell, Freddie Popplewell, Theodore Chester, Harry Eden, Lachlan Gooch, Patrick Gooch, George Mackay, Rupert Simonian, Carsen Gray
Director: P J Hogan
Country: USA
USA & UK: 113 mins
USA Rated: PG for adventure action sequences and peril
UK Certificate: PG contains some mild violence and scary scenes
USA Release Date: 25 December 2003
UK Release Date: 26 December 2003


Synopsis

Imagine a world like nothing you've ever seen, where every day is an adventure, where you never have to grow up or grow old. That's the world of Peter Pan - the clanging swords of furious rivals, the quivering plank of the Jolly Roger, the transcendent thrill of flying ... and the magical power of a hidden kiss.

A lasting tale of adventure, discovery and dreams, PETER PAN has thrilled audiences around the world since it premiered on a London stage 100 years ago. J M Barrie's classic story of the boy who wouldn't grow up - and the girl whose family insists that she must - has had many popular incarnations over the years, but has never been fully realized on-screen - until now.

For the first time, a boy - Jeremy Sumpter (FRAILTY) - stars in the title role, opposite Jason Isaacs (THE PATRIOT, HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS) as Captain James Hook. The fairies will twinkle and Neverland will fill you with wonder, but don't drop your guard. The battle between Hook and Pan has never been fought by enemies so evenly matched.

The story begins on a chilly night in buttoned-up Edwardian London as Wendy Darling (Rachel Hurd-Wood) mesmerizes her younger brothers with tales of swordplay, swashbuckling and Captain Hook, the legendary pirate who fears nothing but a ticking clock. But a clock is ticking for Wendy, too. Her father has decreed that it's time for her to grow up. After tonight, no more stories. She's to be groomed for womanhood and marriage by strict Aunt Millicent (Lynn Redgrave).

Unknown to the Darlings, Peter Pan loves Wendy's stories, too, and travels a great distance to hear them. His appearance in their nursery that night, along with a jealous little fairy called Tinker Bell (Ludivine Sagnier), triggers an awfully big adventure for Wendy and her brothers. Following him out the window like a small flock of birds, the children swoop over London's moonlit rooftops, through a galaxy of radiant planets and stars, to the magical Neverland, where they begin an exhilarating new life free of grown-up rules with Peter and the Lost Boys in their secret underground home. Confronting depraved pirates, malicious mermaids, a monstrous crocodile and, worst of all, the vicious steel claw dangling from Hook's right arm, Wendy and her brothers find out what they're made of. And the ongoing battle between Peter and Hook escalates to a thrilling climax, played out against the fantastical backdrop of the enchanted world of Neverland.

Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios have joined forces to present this bewitching story with an epic-sized production focused on capturing the essence of a great writer's work. With unbounded imagination, a hearty appetite for adventure and the modern magic of visual effects, writer-director P J Hogan (MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING) and producers Lucy Fisher and Douglas Wick (GLADIATOR, STUART LITTLE) have brought all the wonder, danger and excitement of Barrie's original vision to the screen in the first live-action feature film version of PETER PAN since the silent era.