Peter Pan And Wendy Trailer: Disney's Live-Action Remake Might Just Be A Winner
David Lowery is a square peg who refuses to let Hollywood fit him into a round hole.
In the 10 years since the filmmaker broke out with "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" (the 2013 romantic crime drama that /Film's review describes as "Cormac McCarthy by way of 'The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford'"), Lowery has gone from helming acclaimed high art indie dramas to earnest Disney films and dream-like fantasy epics. His latest offering, "Peter Pan and Wendy," marks yet another hard pivot for Lowery, bringing him back into the world of live-action Disney remakes — sorry, re-imaginings, as the House of Mouse insists on calling them — for a new take on J.M. Barrie's fairy tale that looks to bring something genuinely fresh to the oft-told story, which would be quite the accomplishment in and of itself.
Officially said to be based on both Barrie's original "Peter Pan" works (that is, his 1904 stage play "Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" and 1911 novel "Peter and Wendy") and Disney's famous 1953 animated film adaptation, "Peter Pan and Wendy" has previously been referred to by Lowery as "'The Revenant' with flying kids." That description alone makes it more compelling than most of Disney's live-action re-tellings combined. Not only that, the marketing is doing a bang-up job of selling the movie as a loving homage to the animated version, but one that also thankfully removes the elements that landed that film a content warning on Disney+ due to its insensitive portrayals, and replaces them with something far more authentic and respectful. (Hi, Tiger Lily!) For more on that, watch the latest trailer below.
Watch the Peter Pan and Wendy trailer
The thing I find most encouraging about "Peter Pan and Wendy" is just how much it feels like a David Lowery film while at the same time showing us a brand-new side of his storytelling craft. Far from a copy-and-paste reworking of Disney's animated movie, Lowery's remake (which he directed from a script he penned with his writing partner, Toby Halbrooks) appears to be tipping its hat to the movie's iconic visuals — Wendy, Peter, John, and Michael soaring past Big Ben at night, Hook getting tossed about by the crocodile as though he's a toy — while charting its own course to Neverland.
Then there are the darker themes about time and death and the general melancholic vibe we've come to associate with Lowery, with the latest "Peter Pan and Wendy" trailer touching explicitly on Wendy's fears of growing up and the eventual loss of her childhood spirit. If the potentially tear-jerking moment that closes out this trailer is any indicator, Lowery might just end up going two-for-two with his Disney re-tellings after all, between this and his wonderful "Pete's Dragon."
"Peter Pan and Wendy" flies onto Disney+ on April 28, 2023. The official synopsis reads as follows:
"Peter Pan & Wendy" introduces Wendy Darling, a young girl afraid to leave her childhood home behind, who meets Peter Pan, a boy who refuses to grow up. Alongside her brothers and a tiny fairy, Tinker Bell, she travels with Peter to the magical world of Never Land. There, she encounters an evil pirate captain, Captain Hook, and embarks on a thrilling and dangerous adventure that will change her life forever. The film stars Jude Law ("Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore"), Alexander Molony ("The Reluctant Landlord"), Ever Anderson ("Resident Evil: The Final Chapter"), Yara Shahidi ("Grown-ish"), Alyssa Wapanatâhk, Joshua Pickering ("A Discovery of Witches"), Jacobi Jupe, Molly Parker ("House of Cards"), Alan Tudyk ("Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"), and Jim Gaffigan ("The Jim Gaffigan Show").