Anna Sophia Robb, Aaron Eckhart, and Sean Bean cast in ex-Guillermo Del Toro Peter Pan film

J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan has been brought to the big screen numerous times. My favorite remains 2003's Peter Pan, starring Jeremy Sumpter and Ludivine Sagnier. Barrie himself was even the center of the fantastic Finding Neverland starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. So seeing yet another version of the story doesn't mean a heck of a lot to me.....until you start throwing around names like Guillermo Del Toro, Aaron Eckhart, and Sean Bean.

 Screendaily broke the news that Bean, Eckhart, and AnnaSophia Robb(Soul Surfer) have joined the film once known simply as Pan. A dark, modern version of the fairy tale with a crime story twist, it reimagines Captain Hook(Eckhart) as a haunted ex-cop in pursuit of a childlike kidnapper.  Bean would play Smee, Hook's loyal partner and only friend on the force. Robb would portray Wendy, the only one to survive the kidnappings who leaves an asylum to help in track the culprit down.

Safe to say this is not your daddy's Peter Pan. The film was actually conceived as a directorial gig for Guillermo Del Toro back in 2006, which would've been a perfect fit for him considering what he did with Pan's Labyrinth. That unfortunately never materialized, and last year Ben Hibon, best known as the guy behind the animated sequence in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was brought in to helm. The script is by relative newcomer, Ben Magid(Hack/Slash).

I'll be curious to see how the whole Peter Pan dynamic is gelled into what is clearly a very dark thriller. Is it only the names involved? Or will some of Barrie's original themes be weaved into the story?  

The plan is for production to begin in October.