Warner Bros. has gotten off to a frustrating start with “Pan.” A day after it was announced that Levi Miller would play Peter Pan in the Joe Wright reimagining of the classic tale, controversy has struck the film.
Variety reports that the studio’s decision to cast Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily was met with outrage from thousands of fans who signed a Care2 petition to protest the choice of a white actress playing a Native American role. More than 6,338 signatures, out of their stated 7,000 goal, have been received. The petition reads: “This casting choice is particularly shameful for a children’s movie. Telling children their role models must all be white is unacceptable.”
Warner Bros. has yet to respond to the petition.
The film is intended to begin a franchise but based on Wright’s previous films, which have been dominated by British actors, this movie could be far from a children’s film.
The controversy could be a good thing for the movie as it could build more buzz. Recently, a number of films were hit with controversial casting choices.
Jared Leto was the subject of controversy for his role in “Dallas Buyer Club” as a heterosexual man playing a transwoman. Before that, Disney was criticized for choosing Johnny Depp to play the Native American Tonto in “The Lone Ranger.” While “The Lone Ranger” was a complete bomb at the box office, Leto won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Controversy could also benefit because it could lead to bigger box offices.
One of the biggest successes due to its controversy was “Passion of the Christ.” The movie was called anti-Semitic and made many non-moviegoers curious to see the film. In the end, the movie made $370 million at the domestic box office.
“The Da-Vinci Code” was also a huge hit despite—or because of—all the religious controversy and made studios anxious to get the second film out.
While “Pan” has yet to start production, the film is highly anticipated because of the source material. Warner Bros. hopes to make sequels with the film and perhaps this petition will only lead to more curiosity in the project.
“Pan” is set to release July 17, 2015, and also stars Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard and Garrett Hedlund as Hook. The film was written by Jason Fuchs (“Ice Age: Continental Drift”) and is expected to bring back Wright’s team of composer Dario Marianelli, who won an Oscar for Wright’s “Atonement,” as well as two-time Oscar nominee Seamus McGarvey. Costume Designer Jacqueline Durran will also collaborate once again with the director after winning the Oscar for “Anna Karenina.” The one omission in the production is production designer Sarah Greenwood. For this occasion, Wright will collaborate with Aline Bonetto who has worked on “Amelie” and “A Very Long Engagment.”
The film will mark Wright’s first studio film since the 2009 film “The Soloist” which opened to subpar results.