Hugh-Jackman-in-Les-MisérablesShortly after hearing that Garrett Hedlund has signed on to take the lead as Hook in Warner Bros.’ Pan, confirmation now comes that Hugh Jackman will be joining him for next year’s summer blockbuster.

It was reported last year that Jackman was in talks for the role of Blackbeard, after Warner Bros. had previously sought Javier Bardem for the part. They soon then pursued Jackman for the part, and now he’s officially closed his deal and will be starring alongside Hedlund next year.

Joe Wright (Atonement, Anna Karenina) is at the helm for what has the potential to be one of the most interesting blockbusters we’ll see next year.

The Black Listed script comes from Jason Fuchs (Ice Age: Continental Drift), with Wright’s past collaborator Paul Webster (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice) producing alongside Greg Berlanti (Green Lantern, Arrow).

The studio has said that the film remains untitled – there is currently more than one Peter Pan film in development – but we do know that Fuchs’ script is centred on the story of an orphan taken to the magical world of Neverland, where he becomes the saviour of the natives and leads a rebellion against evil pirates.

In a very interesting series of recent moves, Warner Bros. positioned the Man of Steel sequel to May 2016 opposite a still-to-be-announced Marvel movie, pushing (the untitled) Pan to the former’s original release date in July 2015. Marvel has since moved up the release of Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man to open opposite Wright’s upcoming movie, pitting the two studios head-to-head for the first two films in Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Jackman is coming off the back of an acclaimed performance in Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, and will soon be seen returning to the role of Logan / Wolverine in this summer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. With Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie also on his slate for next year, things continue to look good for months to come for the ever-brilliant actor.

Pan will be released in 3D on July 17th, 2015. With a release date firmly in place, we should be able to look forward to further casting announcements in the near future. More as we get it.