Beasts of the Southern Wild director Benh Zeitlin has unveiled the first images from his upcoming Wendy movie. Zeitlin is taking the classic story of Peter Pan and telling it through the eyes of the Wendy character. This is the director's first project since 2012 and many fans are looking forward to seeing his latest offering. Additionally, Fox Searchlight Pictures has announced the drama will open in theaters on February 28th, 2020.
Wendy features the classic story of Peter Pan, though it is wildly reimagined in this ragtag epic from Benh Zeitlin. Lost on a mysterious island where aging and time have come unglued, Wendy must fight to save her family, her freedom, and the joyous spirit of young from the deadly peril of growing up. This project has been rumored for years, so it's nice to finally have official confirmation straight from Zeitlin. Devin France stars as Wendy, while the movie also includes Yashua Mack, Gage Naquin, Gavin Naquin, Romyri Ross, Ahmad Cage, and Krzysztof Meyn. Zeitlin wrote the movie with his sister, Eliza.
Benh Zeitlin first talked about possibly making Wendy back in 2015. However, there was not a lot of talk about the mysterious project after that. Production started in 2017 and many were worried when they did not see the project on the 2019 Fox Searchlight Pictures roster. Zeitlin has quietly been finishing off the movie after shooting on Montserrat, an island south of Antigua, which had population wain following a major volcanic eruption twenty years ago. Many believe Wendy will hold a premiere at either the Sundance Film Festival or the Berlin Film Festival, though that has not been confirmed at this time.
Beasts of the Southern Wild became an acclaimed hit in 2012, going on to win the U.S. Grand Jury Prize and the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Additionally, the movie ended up receiving Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for Quvenzhané Wallis. Wallis was 9-years old at the time and became the category's youngest nominee in history. Needless to say, the hype for Wendy is going to be off the charts upon its release early next year.
Beasts of the Southern Wild was able to earn $23 million from an initial budget of $1.8 million, which made Fox Searchlight very happy. In addition, it gave Benh Zeitlin the freedom to do whatever he wanted and the ability to take his time in doing so. It's believed the director spent much of this year tinkering with the project in the post-production process and the first images from the movie prove this. While we're only seeing images, they are full of depth and they tease that the first footage will be dropping at any moment now. So, make sure you check back to see the first trailer for Benh Zeitlin's Wendy. You can see the images below, thanks to Fox Searchlight Twitter account.
