Stars line up for Peter Pan prequel

NEW YORK, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Rhys Ifans, Anna Friel, Bob Hoskins, Raoul Trujillo and Charlie Rowe are to star in a Peter Pan prequel miniseries shooting in Italy and Ireland, Syfy said.

The cable television network is re-teaming with "Tin Man" and "Alice" writer/director Nick Willing to present "Neverland," his original prequel to author J.M. Barrie's classic Peter Pan tales, said Mark Stern, executive vice president of original programming at Syfy and co-head of content for Universal Cable Productions.

The 4-hour miniseries is slated to air in 2011.

"Nick Willing is a master story-teller who has taken a literary classic and cleverly updated it for a new generation," Stern said.

"Sweeping in time from the turbulent seas of the pirates of the Caribbean to the back alleys of Dickensian London to a world of pure imagination, 'Neverland' is the inspired origin story of one of the most cherished characters of all time… Peter Pan," a synopsis of the program said.