PAN

[jo]

This set visit report from ComingSoon is quite long - almost like a character study of each of the major cast and its director --

www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/428797-from-the-set-of-joe-wrights-pan-as-in-peter-pan#/slide/1

[jo]

Cinemablend gives its take of the set visit -- a lot of it extolling the visual beauty and appeal of Neverland! The report focuses on seven key points!

www.cinemablend.com/new/7-Important-Things-You-Need-Know-About-Pan-70865.html

[jo]

Moviefone was also invited for a set visit -- its report again highlights the visual appeal of the production design -- the Neverland set, the costumes, etc...

news.moviefone.com/2015/04/14/pan-set-interview/

It also confirmed that a new trailer will premiere later this week smiley-happy036


Jo

[mamaleh]

Very comprehensive interviews. Thanks, Jo! I'm really looking forward to seeing PAN.

Ellen

[jo]

And if you look at the official list of credits -- Hugh Jackman's name is above the title, immediately following "A Joe Wright film"


Good negotiating, Patrick Whitesell smiley-happy096


Jo

[jo]

The Collider set visit report has two parts -- it is also the most informative and has the freshest look at the movie, from all the set visit reports.



The first focuses on interviews with Joe Wright and Rooney Mara, especially on the casting controversy of Tiger Lily and a lot of other fascinating things.

collider.com/pan-rooney-mara-joe-wright-talk-tiger-lily-casting/



Joe Wright says he thinks Blackbeard's costume is the coolest ( among the many outstanding designs) and decided to try the coat on once -- the shoulders were too wide and the tummy part was too small. Haha - that was modelled on one of the most admired torsos in the world


There is mention of the big fight scene between Tiger Lily and Blackbeard!


The second part is a summary of 50 things about PAN.

collider.com/pan-50-things-to-know-about-the-peter-pan-origin-story/

It also mentions the fight between Rooney and Hugh ( Ronney : " I have to fight Wolverine??") - LOL! Someone's fame always precedes him


Jo

[jo]

Short and sweet -- but this report from ROTTEN TOMATOES talks about the key things to marvel at PAN!

www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pan_2015/news/1933161/8_things_to_know_from_the_set_of_pan/

[jo]

I have to reproduce the report from HITFIX

Set Report: 'Pan' star Hugh Jackman is The Nicest Man in the World


Rooney Mara, Garrett Hedlund and director Joe Wright celebrate their Blackbeard


By Daniel Fienberg @hitfixdaniel | Tuesday, Apr 14, 2015 12:00 PM





LONDON, ENGLAND. The Nicest Man in the World is strung up on a wire, hovering above an enormous pirate ship and yet entirely engulfed in the vastness of the studio at the Cardington Airship Sheds outside of London.

The Nicest Man in the World is actually in the process of being decidedly less-than-nice. Aboard a ship dubbed the Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard and his gang of nefarious pirates have been fighting off a slew of Indians, including Rooney Mara's Tiger Lily and he who fights with Tiger Lily must surely face the audience's wrath.

Over and over again, Blackbeard is hoisted up into the air and comes swooping down, sword out-stretched. It's a threatening and, frankly, badass entrance, made all the scarier by Blackbeard's raw scalp, a scar that gets touched up between shots. It's clearly one of the key scenes in Joe Wright's revisionist Peter Pan epic "Pan" and there's little doubt that Hugh Jackman is having a ball being terrifying. Even if the frequent ascending and descending might get on a different actor's nerves. Each time, though, Jackman's intense glower remains alive and intimidating.

It's quite a feat for a man who is, by all accounts, The Nicest Man in the World.

Unknown Aussie actor Levi Miller, plucked by Wright to play Peter Pan, only knew Jackman from his Oscar nominated and blockbuster resume, but he now considers him a friend.

"I had heard from people that he was very lovely," Miller admits.

"He’s more lovely than people have said, so that’s quite nice."

"Quite Nice" is enthusiastic, but it doesn't quite rise to the necessary level of hyperbole.

Jackman's scene adversary on this August day in 2014 gets a bit closer.

"We’re still in the midst of it but... he’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my entire life," says Rooney Mara.

Now we're getting closer.

"I mean first and foremost when everybody that you know who’s worked with Hugh always says he’s the nicest guy around..." muses Garrett Hedlund of his expectations about working with Jackman. "And it’s so refreshing to see that that is completely true. And he’s the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. One of the hardest workers, I mean on and off. And we’ve been sharing the same trainer on this and it’s just great to see somebody who has been doing it as long as Hugh and has such a strong work ethic and is just all about the work and within this environment, it’s something fun and refreshing for all of us to be on the set where you’re not dealing with characters that are losing their family members to this or that disease or their sons being kidnapped."

While it's nice that there's agreement that Hugh Jackman is The Nicest Man in the World, but it's far from necessary. The entertainment industry is full of tremendous actors who have never been called the nicest men in their own extra-wide trailers, much less the world. Some of them are spectacularly hard workers on-set, and bastards in their everyday lives. Some are bastards in their everyday lives and won't commit to their craft, but when the cameras roll, magic happens, guaranteeing employment in perpetuity.

Because of his big stunt scene, Hugh Jackman is the major "Pan" cast member who isn't able to speak with the press that afternoon. This is disappointing, both because he's the top-billed star in the movie, but also because it's not often that you have the chance to talk to somebody who has achieved a pinnacle of anything, much less niceness.

Still, just as Rooney Mara is about to settle into her seat and stare down a row of microphones, Jackman sneaks over to shake hands and say "Hi," repeatedly apologizing for taking Mara's time. He's taller than you might expect, but his handshake is as firm as you'd imagine. These aren't the pieces of world-beating niceness, but it's something.

"He’s so hard-working," Mara affirms. "[T]hank God I’m fighting against him because he’s so lovely and generous and he’s a great person to try and model yourself after."


That's perhaps the key to why it matters how nice Hugh Jackman is.

"It just means that everyone’s relaxed," says Joe Wright of the advances of having The Nicest Man in the World at the top of the callsheet. "And I think people are at their most creative when they’re relaxed. I don’t believe that tension is good for creativity. And so yeah, everyone’s relaxed and therefore can feel able to express their own individual creativity and lots of ideas come in and it’s a joy like that."

Hedlund agrees, "It’s something that Joe and us, we’ve all worked on very serious projects where we sit in the trailer and... you have a headache all day because that’s kind of what you’re going through. And for this it’s sort of been asked of us to sort of have as much fun as you possibly can to be as insanely goofy as you possibly can and that’s what’s being craved of you."

One last testimonial comes from Sarah Schechter, longtime producing partner with Greg Berlanti.

"We were so lucky to have him," Schechter says. "I've worked in film for the past 15 years and I've heard for probably the last 10 years that Hugh Jackman's like the nicest guy in the world and I just didn't believe that anyone could actually be that nice and he truly is. But what was so great is that he's not just nice. He's such a good actor and what's so fun about seeing him in this role is he gets to do something that he hasn't done before and he's really having fun with it and he's worked so hard."

Jackman's stuntman is off to the side, ready to go in if necessary, but the "Les Miserables" veteran keeps at it, snapping into calculated menace at each call of "Action."

He only breaks once.

Dangling in the air, waiting for crew members to reset the scene, Hugh Jackman notices that the small group of reporters observing production on "Pan" is departing.

The grimace of world conquering determination melts away.

Suddenly, swaying a bit precariously, Hugh Jackman breaks out a big smile and starts waving "Good-bye" to us, sword still in hand.

The Nicest Man in the World.

[jo]

And this portion from the report from COMINGSOON shares why Blackbeard has that infamous hairstyle

Oddly, the last time this writer visited the set of one of Jackman’s movies, he had shaved his head for a role and the set itself involved a giant tree. (And if you’ve seen Darren Aronofksy’s The Fountain, consider yourself awesome.) Nearly ten years later and you probably already know that he has once again shaved his head to play Blackbeard, although you might not know why. It became clear to us on our second day as we watched him on set. Apparently, Blackbeard had an altercation with the natives and let’s just say that they didn’t leave him with much hair, hence the different look for the actor.

[jo]

Hugh does his own promotion of the movie

Hugh Jackman @realhughjackman
· 1h 1 hour ago
EVERY LEGEND HAS A BEGINNING @pan #PanMovie

[jo]

Let me reproduce this part of the report from COMINGSOON --

Pan opens in North American theaters on Friday, July 24 and in other countries starting on July 15. Check out the new poster below and look for the new trailer on Thursday, April 16! Also, be sure to explore Neverland at PanMovie.com.

Here's the release schedule for many countries, from IMDB --

www.imdb.com/title/tt3332064/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_ov_inf+


Many countries in Europe get it on July 15/16/17...and others are quite close to the USA opening (July 24).

This was because the original USA release date of July 17 was pushed back a week, presumably so that it does not get into direct competition with Marvel's Antman.

Hope it also finds itself into the burgeoning Chinese market!

[jo]

I am re-reading the set visit reports and picking up a few things --

Earlier in the day, Schecter told us that the director of Pride and Prejudice, Hanna and other films was interested in taking on Peter Pan after reading Jason Fughs’ first draft but that he added so much to it when he came on board, having been very familiar with the ‘40s time period from directing Atonement. The very first image he created for the film was an 18-foot banner that illustrated some of the key moments from the screenplay including the sequence of the pirates taking the orphans into Neverland.

Hugh Jackman is dangling from a wire, floating roughly 35 feet over a full-scale model of a majestic pirate ship. Down below, diabolical sea-dwellers engage in an animated fistfight, and Jackman – dressed to the teeth as the pirate Blackbeard – descends over and over again into the fray. Once, when the wire pulls the A-list actor back into the rafters, he spies us… a small group of film journalists invited to the set of Pan to watch the actor and his colleagues at work. For just a moment, he breaks character. The menacing pirate is gone, and Hugh Jackman, The Movie Star, is flashing his brilliant smile and waving happily, prop sword in hand. It’s a beautiful, bizarre and wonderful movie moment I’ll never forget.

That’s right, Hook isn’t yet Captain Hook in this movie. He’s an American – from the Midwest – who has been in Neverland for quite some time and actually starts off helping Peter during the early stages of the film.

Producer Sarah Schechter opened up, during our visit, of the possibility of Pan kickstarting a new franchise of live-action Peter Pan movies. With a leading man not even in his teens, and a wealth of possible stories left to tell, the sky over Neverland truly could be the limit for this cast and this series. Garrett Hedlund, who plays Hook to Miller’s Pan, admitted, "We signed on for multiple films." So if Pan does well, expect more stories in this universe.

But Schechter made it crystal clear that the decision to make more movies centered around Levi Miller’s Peter Pan would be "organic" and not calculated. They love the world. They love these characters. They would love to keep telling stories with them, but nothing is set in stone. That being said, it’s worth noting that Pan will connect – loosely – to the familiar story of Wendy, John, Nana and the characters we love. It does not directly lead into that tale, but we might see a few very interesting hints as Pan draws to a close.

[jo]

Hugh Jackman @realhughjackman
· 10m 10 minutes ago
I will LIVE forever #PanMovie panmovie

http://instagram.com/p/1fjNxkihND

[jo]

Tosha Sweat ‏@toshbosh21 · 2h2 hours ago  Virginia Beach, VA
@realhughjackman Can't wait! My kids seriously hold their breath when they watch the preview. #PanMovie #classic #ChildhoodMemories

Leigh Arnold ‏@missleigharnold · 2h2 hours ago
@realhughjackman my little man is going to burst with excitement #PeterPan #youcanflyyoucanflyyoucanfly

Hope the kiddie demos really go for this movie!

Of course, for every little child who comes and sees it -- there will a parent or two tagging along

LegenDaryl • 13 hours ago

This had been my bedtime story when I was a child. Looking forward to see the story of his origins :-)

Will this be a date movie? Hmmm... depends...if the young man was a Peter Pan fan, then he would likely want to relive his childhood fantasies and probably take his girl along?

Glenn Luty ‏@shifusdaddy · 1h1 hour ago
@realhughjackman "Have you come to kill me Peter?" Take my money now!!!!

Will this be a fanboy movie? I am hoping that the action ( and the stars, esp Wolverine) will draw them in droves.

Margaret Reed ‏@margaretreed90 · 3m3 minutes ago
@realhughjackman Amazing Transformation Hugh, U Look Like A Totally Different Person Here! Looking Forward 2 Seeing Your Talent At Work!

Hugh will likely be the main attraction for the female audiences? Or Garrett? Or Levi?

Neha Gadhavi ‏@gadhavineha · 52m52 minutes ago
@realhughjackman @pan can't wait to watch this.......the poster looks awesome....?

International fans? Hugh and Peter Pan will draw them in together



How about the seniors? Maybe those with memories of Mary Martin would find this interesting. No sure that Allison Williams worked enough magic with her portrayal.


Three months and a week to go

[suefb]

I'm skeptical about the fan boys, although maybe some of them will come. I think Pixels will be a bigger draw for that crowd.

I listened to part of a podcast last night where a couple of guys were gushing about Ant-Man and discussing the new Terminator film, and they got to Pan - why I was listening - and I was sad that they just dismissed it completely. They called it "Panman Begins", and they seemed to think (quite incorrectly) that the film will be dark and black and gritty - I recall this was originally thought to be the case, but Wright definitely moved in a different direction, at least visually. Also, I think it's going to be lighter and funnier than people realize, based on some of the comments made in those interviews published yesterday.

Anyway, they ridiculed the whole idea and said they'd "never see it". Just two opinions, but it was disappointing to hear. Sorry that I can't find the link, I threw it away in disgust, lol. 

[jo]

If the movie turns out to be very well made and highly entertaining, reviews and fan reactions mainly across the pond will get on social media and the internet a week before it opens in America! Hopefully, word of mouth will entice the cousins across the Atlantic

I remember how Real Steel was dissed by potential movie audiences before it opened, esp the fanboys. I was annoyed because it was described as nothing but a rock-em-sock-em-robot-movie! But it did fairly well ( $ 85 million in the USA and $ 300 million worldwide)and had a surprising very good reception because of the father-and-son theme and the execution of the movie.

The influential film sites with fanboys ( Maybe Collider, ComingSoon, HitFix, CinemaBlend. Moviefone, Latino Review?) will hopefully continue with the positive spin shown on their set visit reports. I wonder why Empire did not seem to have been invited to the set visit. Unless they have a special invitation and will give their spin later on, maybe even a special coverage on their magazine?. AICN is no longer the fanboy favorite it used to be -- they were not also invited to the London trip. We'll see how the film sites will shape fanboy opinion?

I think the success of PAN at the box office will also depend a lot on how much Warner Bros spends to promote it. Since they may be hoping that this origin movie may have franchise potential, maybe WB will give it a hefty push, publicity-wise? I am assuming that Hugh and company will do the European tour first ( July 15/16/17 release dates) before the promotion moves to America. But I think Warner Bros missed the boat on the scheduling of the Australian release date. It will only be released on Sept 10. What a pity because the two major stars of the movie, both Aussies ( Hugh and Levi), are the movie's main attraction. Les Mis ( also with two Aussie leads) did something like $ 27 million in Australia. Hopefully, it can secure a release schedule in China, where they do like action oriented movies ( Days of Future Past did $ 117 million).

I am hoping the second trailer will be more impactful and focuses a lot on the action scenes!

Jo

[hughmanity]

Disheartened to hear about that podcast....to me it looks like the movie has so much going for it, but I have to say I'm a bit worried. It's wedged in -between two big releases....just a very crowded summer marketplace.

[jo]

On July 18, 2008 - The Dark Knight was released! It went on to gross over a billion dollars worldwide ($ 1,004,000). On the same exact date, Mamma Mia! was released...and it went on to gross over six hundred million worldwide ( $ 609,000) and became the highest grossing musical of all time ( the second-ranked was Les Miserables at $ 442 million).

An excellent counterprogramming at the height of summer!. Who would ever think that a film adaptation of a jukebox musical could do that well ?...Against arguably the most revered superhero movie of all time?

PAN's primary market will not be the fanboys of adult superhero fare. Hopefully, it will hit the young demos primarily ( the young superhero market -- Peter Pan was an original superhero   )  and be the  solid and fun family entertainment  it has been marketed all along. Hugh's star power will hopefully draw in some of the fanboy demos...and the fangirls ( very young, young, middle-aged, mature) female fanbase

Assuming it is a well-made film, its box office success will also depend a lot on how heavily Warner Bros will market the movie... and of course on how the critics and the fans react to its initial release. Ironically, it will be the fans from the UK ( where Peter was originally conceived by James Barrie, where Joe Wright comes from and his reputation for iconic English literature film adaptations, where the movie was filmed in one the largest studios in the UK) which will likely take the lead. together with how the UK critics, in establishing the initial audience reaction. Peter Pan is a worldwide icon for children...so the character will have its own legion of followers.

The US release date is a week later.


Jo

[jo]

This is the competition --

Friday
24
NEW IN THEATERS/ DISTRIBUTOR/ RELEASE

Pan
Fantasy Warner Bros. Wide

Paper Towns
Drama Fox Wide

Pixels
Action Comedy Sony / Columbia Wide

Southpaw
Drama Weinstein Company Wide

Irrational Man
Comedy Sony Classics

The Vatican Tapes
Horror Lionsgate

Here's VULTURE assessment of ths tentpole season -- as of April 7, 2015.

www.vulture.com/2015/04/lets-pick-the-5-highest-grossing-summer-movies.html

Excerpts:

Other Potential Picks

If they’re brought off successfully, two comic-book franchise-starters could hop to the front of the class: Marvel’s Ant-Man (starring Paul Rudd), and the reboot of Fantastic Four (with Miles Teller, Kate Mara, and Michael B. Jordan). Series fivequel Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation has got that grabby airplane stunt in its trailer and it’s following an installment that made over $200 million, but I feel like Tom Cruise is in the middle of another career downswing, and a finish closer to the $130 million–grossing Mission: Impossible III is much more likely.

There are some effects-heavy family adventures that could become sleeper hits this summer, too. I’m thinking of the video-game-inspired Pixels, which has a pretty irresistible premise (but may be limited by fading leading man Adam Sandler); Brad Bird’s mysterious Tomorrowland (with George Clooney); and Joe Wright’s big-budget Pan, which spins an origin story for Peter Pan and Captain Hook on a number of lavish sets, adding Hugh Jackman to the mix as a mustache-twirling villain.

I am hoping that the second trailer due for release within the next 24 hours wlll have the full impact of the potential of the movie. I am hoping that it will be action-laden this time, compared to the first trailer. I would like to see Peter do some stunts and maybe a glimpse of the big fight between Tiger Lily (with her boomerang axe) and Blackbeard with his two swords!

The promo team for this movie will be physically very attractive ( Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara, Levi Miller ...and maybe even joined by Amanda Seyfried and model Cara Delevigne in the world premiere ( London?) -- all genetically-blessed people


Jo

[jo]

Posted by Hugh himself --

Hugh Jackman ‏@realhughjackman · 5h5 hours ago
pic.twitter.com/NAnRd0vdxd

[jo]

Okay, that is the exact time of the release of the second trailer...

That means I will have to sleep first tonight and wait for 7:30 am tomorrow

[hughmanity]

Thanks for breaking it down, Jo!

[suefb]

Apr 15, 2015 22:32:04 GMT -5 jo said:

This is the competition --


Friday
24
NEW IN THEATERS/ DISTRIBUTOR/ RELEASE

Pan
Fantasy Warner Bros. Wide

Paper Towns
Drama Fox Wide

Pixels
Action Comedy Sony / Columbia Wide

Southpaw
Drama Weinstein Company Wide

Irrational Man
Comedy Sony Classics

The Vatican Tapes
Horror Lionsgate

It'll be an interesting weekend, to be sure. Paper Towns is the latest film based on a novel written by John Green, who wrote The Fault in our Stars - a surprising hit in 2014 - which will likely attract large swaths of teenage girls. Pixels has a fun premise - 80s videogame characters come to life - and even if Adam Sandler is "fading", fanboys / gamers might be drawn in by the presence of Peter Dinklage. And Southpaw is the Jake Gyllenhaal boxing flick, which will likely not be positioned as a big money-maker but could do well with good reviews. And Marvel's Ant-Man will still be in theaters and could threaten to win a second weekend if it's anywhere close to Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy status. We'll see. And Minions will have opened on July 10, so there will still be competition in the family film market. 

I think reviews will be crucial. If Pan gets high marks on the RT scale, people will be much more inclined to see it. No doubt Joe Wright is making what will be an eye-catching film, but let's hope it tells the tale in an engaging way. Fingers crossed. 

[jo]

What might be awkward is the release date in North America will be a week later than many major markets. Will critics be posting their reviews a week before the movie is released in the USA? Rotten Tomatoes reviews are composed mainly of reviews from the USA ( with only a few here and there from the UK). So, the foreign markets will see it way ahead of the USA.

I have looked at some stats for FROZEN. While that film is in animation and Pan is live action -- are they pitched towards the same market?

www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=frozen2013.htm


Frozen is probably more geared towards an even younger demos. Pan may appeal to the kids, tweens, and maybe even the younger teens? But I am sure many studios which release movies geared towards the much younger demos have looked at what Frozen has done in terms of marketing strategy. It was also well-received by RT critics fans alike. Just wondering though if animation movies get much better ratings compared to live action for the same market? There are usually no acting issues for animated movies. But either one has to be well-made...to garner the attention and devotion of the kiddie market...and maybe some from the older demos?

Cinderella is live action but probably pitched towards the same young demos market. How has it done, reviews- and box-office wise?

www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=cinderella2015.htm

Cinderella has not likely completed its run particularly for the overseas market.


Rotten Tomatoes ratings:
Frozen - 89%
Cinderella - 85%

What movie has Warner Bros released for the young demos?

The Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings franchises come to mind -- but those movies are probably pitched towards at a slightly older young demos? But the distribution strategy experience is availaible to WB!


Jo

[suefb]

I wonder if the delayed US box office release is not only to avoid the Marvel competition in the US but to establish a good foothold world-wide before it hits the US. Perhaps the mere label "Marvel Studios" doesn't have quite the same allure world-wide, plus we know Hugh is extremely popular in many international markets. And if positive reviews are anticipated (again, fingers crossed), they'll sometimes start showing up more than a week ahead of the release anyway.

Re kids movies from Warner Brothers, the Lego Movie would be the most recent one that comes to mind, and it did very well.