Warner Bros.’ forthcoming origin tale Pan, the latest update to J.M. Barrie’s eternal Peter Pan, is starting to flesh out its ensemble as Variety reports that Rooney Mara is being courted for the role of Tiger Lily.  This follows the earlier casting announcements of Hugh Jackman (last seen in cinemas in Prisoners) and Garrett Hedlund (Inside Llewyn Davis, On the Road).  Joe Wright (Anna Karenina, Atonement) will direct from a screenplay by Jason Fuchs (Ice Age: Continental Drift.)

Pan offers to be a fresh take on the ‘boy who never grew up’ story.  Set during World War II, the film revolves around orphan child Peter who is kidnapped by pirates and brought to Neverland to help thwart the villainous Blackbeard.  No casting announcement has been made as to is in the running for the title role, but Variety reports an opening casting call is being held.  Jackman was previously announced as the big bad of piece, playing Blackbeard, while Hedlund will play a young Captain Hook.  Warner Bros. is hoping that Pan is franchise starter in the same vein as Harry Potter.  This marks the first big treatment of the Barrie classic in quite a while – there was a small boom in Neverland-related films that came out a decade before with P.J. Hogan’s more classical 2003 retelling Peter Pan and Marc Forster’s Oscar-nominated 2004 Barrie biopic Finding Neverland with Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet.

Mara, who earned an Oscar nomination for her leading role in David Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and was last seen in theaters in Spike Jonze’s Her, has a handful of films coming out in the near future including Stephen Daldry’s thriller Trash and Todd Haynes’ 50s-era lesbian romance Carol opposite Cate Blanchett, which just began production.  While filming hasn’t commenced yet, Warner Bros. is scheduling to release Pan on July 17, 2015.