Rooney Mara Signs Up To Play Tiger Lily In Pan

Warner Bros. is moving fast to get Pan into production, hoping to steal a march on a rival Peter Pan prequel that’s in the works at Disney. The film has Joe Wright set to direct, Hugh Jackman up to play the villainous Blackbeard, and Garrett Hedlund as Hook, who starts off as a good guy before turning bad.

Now the first female name has signed on, with Variety reporting that Rooney Mara is set to play Tiger Lily in the movie. Many actresses were considered for the movie, such as Lupita Nyonog’o and Adele Exarchopoulos, before Mara was offered the part.

The original story ‘is set during World War II and follows an orphan named Peter who is kidnapped by pirates and brought to Neverland, where he discovers he’s destined to save the land from the pirate Blackbeard.’ It’s said to be very different to any Pan movie put on the screen before, with a multi-racial/international look.

The hope is that it can become a franchise on a par with Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings. We’ll be able to see if it can manage that when it’s released July 17, 2015.

The search is now on to find a young person to play Peter, which will include an open casting call.