You might have seen director Ben Hibon’s work if you watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 this weekend (and based on the box office takings, it sounds like many of you did). He was the man responsible for the animated chunk of back-story about the Hallows themselves. Now he’s been handed the chance to direct Pan, a very different version of the Peter Pan story.
This Pan** **is decidedly darker than the original JM Barrie or Disney telling, with Captain Hook re-imagined as a troubled ex-police detective obsessed with tracking down a kidnapper who specialises in appealing to his victims’ trusting nature. Creepy.
Ben Magid wrote the script, which was optioned by New Line back in 2006 as a likely project for Guillermo del Toro (can’t think why; it’s not as if GDT has had any success at all with films featuring dark fantasy and “Pan” in the title…) But thanks to Del Toro’s hectic schedule and other commitments, it has lingered in limbo until producers Christopher Tuffin, Martin Shore and Brooklyn Weaver plucked it from the slush pile and locked in Hibon. “Ben Hibon is a true visionary whose directorial talents will entertain and surprise audiences of all ages for decades to come," Tuffin tells Variety.
Aside from the Potter ‘toon, Hibon’s other previous directing work includes respected TV short Codehunters and video games Heavenly Sword and Killer 7. He’s now looking for likely cast members with a shoot planned for later next year.