Peter Pan & Wendy

In April 2016 it was announced that Walt Disney Pictures is developing a live-action adaptation of the 1953 animated film, Peter Pan.[4] David Lowery signed on as director, with a script he co-wrote with Toby Halbrooks. The pair previously worked together on the 2016 remake of Disney's Pete's Dragon.[4] Jim Whitaker will serve as producer on the project.[4]

In February 2018, Whitaker stated that the script was entering early stages of development.[5] He further explained that the film will be grounded in realism, though it will also be "a big, rollicking adventure, too".[5] By October of the same year, the fourth draft of the script had been completed with a fifth draft underway. Lowery stated that "the number-one priority is getting the script right".[6] The filmmaker elaborated that the project is personal to him, as he is a fan to the original, acknowledging that he had been "agonizing over every little detail".[6] He confirmed that the modern-day adaptation would have to change elements to avoid the racial stereotypes present in the original film.[6]

In December 2019, Lowery stated that he and Halbrooks had written an addition "draft-and-a-half" at that point, adding that it would have to have "a few more drafts to go" before it is ready to be filmed.[7] He described working on the film as "challenging" due to both his personal love for the original film and its popularity among fans.[7] He also feels that he had to justify the film's existence due to other live-action Peter Pan films having been developed, while also doing "justice to the source material".[7] The filmmaker stated that the outlook that he and the studio has, is: "[i]f it has to be done, it has to be done right".[7] Comparing his work on Peter Pan to Pete's Dragon, the filmmaker stated that the latter was less stress seeing as the original had been an "under-the-radar Disney title" with little following, which allowed him more creative freedom.[7] By January 2020, the film was officially titled Peter Pan & Wendy. Joe Roth joined the film's production team as an additional producer.[8]

In January 2020, The New Zealand Herald reported that Disney is looking for a young actor from New Zealand to be Peter Pan.[9] Alexander Molony and Ever Anderson were reported to have been cast as Peter Pan and Wendy Darling, respectively, in March 2020.[10] By July of the same year, Jude Law had entered early negotiations to play Captain James Hook.[11] Law would be confirmed in September, with Yara Shahidi cast to play Tinker Bell.[12][13] In October 2020, Alyssa Wapanatâhk was confirmed to play Tiger Lily.[14] In January 2021, Jim Gaffigan joined the cast as Mr. Smee.[15]

Production for Peter Pan & Wendy is set to take place in Canada.[8] It was originally set to begin on April 17, 2020, and wrap in August 2020.[8][16] However, filming was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17][18] Filming is expected to begin on March 8, 2021, and wrap on June 30, 2021.[19][20] On November 12, 2020, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced, in an annual earnings report, that filming on all movies that had been postponed by the coronavirus had resumed filming, and in some cases completed principal photography.[21]