Yo Ho! Hugh Jackman in Talks to Play Blackbeard in Pan Film

Tony winner Hugh Jackman may be headed to the big screen as lead villain Blackbeard in Pan, according to Variety. Jackman is in negotiations to join the forthcoming Peter Pan origin film, which has a script by stage actor (Speech and Debate) turned screenwriter (Ice Age: Continental Drift) Jason Fuchs. Joe Wright (Anna Karenina, Atonement) will direct.

Pan will reportedly center on an orphan who is taken to Neverland and later leads the natives in a revolt against evil pirates. Blackbeard will be the main villain; Captain Hook has been written as Pan’s ally before turning to the dark side. No other casting as been announced.

A Tony winner for The Boy from Oz, Jackman has appeared on Broadway in A Steady Rain and in a sold-out Back on Broadway series of concerts. He is currently on the awards circuit for his dark turn in the revenge film Prisoners following an Oscar-nominated performance as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables>