Disney's next big live-action remake will be here in less than a month with Mulan, but after seeing multiple successful remakes in 2019, the studio doesn't have another remake on the schedule until Cruella hits in more than a year. Considering how successful these movies have been, you can be sure that a lot more are planned, and one of the projects that has been in development some time, a live-action version of Peter Pan, is now moving forward, as both Peter Pan and Wendy have been cast in the film, which will be called Peter Pan and Wendy.
Ever Anderson, who's only film credit to date was the role of Young Alicia in 2016's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, is set to play Wendy, while Alexander Molony has been cast to play Peter Pan, according to Variety. David Lowery, who directed Disney's live-action Pete's Dragon, is directing Peter Pan & Wendy and he also co-write the script.
Previously, the new movie was expected to be an original movie for Disney+, which also handled the Lady & The Tramp remake, but it appears now that the plan is for the film to be a traditional theatrical release.
While Disney's live-action remakes have been incredibly strong in recent years, Peter Pan & Wendy is potentially stepping out into difficult territory because live-action Peter Pan movies haven't exactly had the greatest track record. While Steven Spielberg's Hook is well remembered today, it was a flop at the box office upon release, and the same has been true of 2015's Pan and 2003's Peter Pan.
If Peter Pan & Wendy is really looking toward a theatrical release than that likely means Disney has high hopes for the film, so perhaps this will be the one to break the trend.
Based on the title, one can assume that the new Disney version will focus not only on Pan but also on Wendy, though the girl is arguably the main character of the animated Disney version anyway, so that's not necessarily a major jump, just an honest assessment. Of course, we don't really know at this point if Peter Pan & Wendy will really be based on the Disney version of the story as previous remakes have been, or if this will really just be a new live-action adaptation of the story, in the same way the previous films have been.
Now with lead actors attached, Peter Pan & Wendy now finds itself in a similar position as The Little Mermaid, another Disney remake that is planned, but hasn't seemed to move forward yet. It appears likely that one of these two films will be the next live-action remake following Cruella, as they're the only projects that we're aware are this far along, but which we'll see first, or when we'll see it, remains to be seen. We know that a sequel to Aladdin is also in the cards, though that one is clearly in an earlier state of development.
