Disney taps Yara Shahidi for Tinkerbell in live-action Peter Pan
After already landing her Grown-ish co-star for the highly coveted role of Ariel in the forthcoming Little Mermaid remake, Disney has landed series lead Yara Shahidi for the role of Tinkerbell in the upcoming Peter Pan live-action adaptation, according to Deadline.
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The 20-year-old actress joins a cast that includes two-time Oscar nominee Jude Law (The Third Day) as the notorious Captain Hook and newcomers Alexander Molony and Ever Anderson, the latter of whom is the daughter of action star Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil). Molony’s acting credits include the Disney Junior’s Claude series and Sky One series The Reluctant Landlord. Anderson made her acting debut as a younger version of her mother in 2016’s action-horror film Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Anderson will next be seen in Marvel Studios’ highly-anticipated Black Widow as the younger version of Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff.
Click here to purchase Disney’s 1953 classic adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s tale!
First published in 1911, Peter Pan & Wendy tells the story of the boy who never grows up named Peter Pan as he meets Wendy Darling and takes her along with her brothers John and Michael to the magical island of Neverland. There, they get to meet the Lost Boys and Tinkerbell, followed by many dangerous adventures against Peter’s lifelong nemesis Captain Hook.
J.M. Barrie’s iconic tale has been adapted into a live-action film a few times including Steven Spielberg’s 1991 live-action film which starred Robin Williams and Julia Roberts; and 2003’s coming-of-age film starring Jeremy Sumpter and Rachel Hurd-Wood which was probably the most recognized live-action adaptation among many young people; and the most recent one, Joe Wright’s 2016 Pan starring Hugh Jackman. However, Disney’s 1953 animated film Peter Pan has remained the most popular adaptation of the tale.
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Peter Pan & Wendy will be directed by David Lowery (Pete’s Dragon, The Green Knight) with Toby Halbrooks having co-written the adaptation with Lowery. The project will be part of Disney’s growing slate of live-action films including The Little Mermaid, Pinocchio, and Niki Caro’s upcoming Mulan which is set to hit theaters on March 27.
Last year, Disney has proven the success of their efforts of adapting many of their classic animated films into live-action with Jon Favreau’s The Lion King and Guy Richie’s Aladdin both earning a gross of over $1 billion.
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