Director Joe Wright is working on Pan, the latest live-action take on the universe created J.M. Barrie. The production may be on the cusp of its first official casting news, as Variety is reporting that Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables, X-Men) is in talks to play the villain of the film- the dreaded pirate Blackbeard. Perhaps because he’s not known for taking villainous roles, its been reported that Jackman wasn’t the WB’s first choice for the role- with that honor going to Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men, Skyfall), who passed. Maybe he’s scared of being typecast? Jackman, on the other hand, seems to be interested in tweaking his “good guy” image. His last film, Prisoners, cast him in a darker light than we’ve seen him in before.

Pan will be working off a script written by Jason Fuchs (Ice Age: Continental Drift), and will tell an origin story. Peter Pan first appeared in Barrie’s 1902 novel, The Little White Bird, but is probably best known for Disney’s classic 1953 animated adaptation. While there have been a couple of live-action Pan films, including the oft-forgotten Peter Pan from 2003 that starred Jason Isaacs, the most well-known would probably be Steven Spielberg’s Hook which featured Robin Williams as a grown-up Peter squaring off against Dustin Hoffman’s Captain Hook.

The plot of this new one will reportedly tell the story as a tale about “an orphan who is taken to the magical world of Neverland where he becomes a hero to the natives and leads a revolt against the evil pirates.“

The deal for Jackman seems to be just about finalized. The Australian actor had several projects floating around his desk, but this one looks like the offer he’s most interested in.

Word on the street is that since they’ve nailed down an A-Lister for Blackbeard, the production is looking for a fresh face, possibly an unknown, to play Peter.

SOURCE: Variety