Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare is a 2025 British independent slasher film directed and written by Scott Jeffrey. The film serves as the third installment of the Twisted Childhood Universe and it is a horror retelling of J.M. Barrie's 1904/1928 play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Would Not Grow Up as well as the 1911 novel Peter and Wendy.
It released on January 13th, 2025 in the United States by Iconic Events and Premiere Entertainment Group and is set to be released on February 24th, 2025 as the fourth installment in the United Kingdom.
Synopsis[]
The film follows Wendy Darling as she tries to track down her brother, Michael, who has been abducted by Peter Pan and Tinker Bell.
Plot[]
Fifteen years ago, Peter Pan worked in a fantasy-themed circus known as “Paulos' Circus,” where he performs as a mime for many children. After a show, Peter tries to kidnap three-year-old James from his home to take him to Neverland. James's mother, Roxy, tries to stop Peter from taking him, but is killed after a fight in which she mutilates Peter's face while he kidnaps the boy.
Today, siblings Wendy and Michael Darling live in a complex family dynamic with their brother John and mother Mary, the latter working as a hypnotherapist in the nearby town of Ashdown. As a surprise birthday gift, Michael receives a bicycle and Wendy gives him a ride to school, promising to pick him up later. She gets distracted while talking to her boyfriend Ronnie and doesn't notice when Michael leaves on his bike.
Michael goes through the woods and Peter ends up kidnapping him. The Darling family receives a phone call from Peter, informing them that Michael will be taken to Neverland. The next day, Peter slaughters a bus full of children while searching for Michael's best friend, Joey. At the same time, Wendy, Joey, and Joey's sister, Tiger Lily, visit a victim from the past, Steven, whose transgender son was kidnapped by Peter years ago.
Wendy spends the night with Joey's family, but Peter arrives to kidnap him, killing Lily and her parents, Miles and Mel, in the process. Meanwhile, Michael meets Steven's daughter, Tinkerbell, who believes everything Peter has told her over the years and is convinced that the children Peter kills are actually going to the fictional Neverland due to the drug abuse Peter subjected her to over the years.
After following Peter to Neverland, where he is holding Michael hostage, Wendy comes in to save him. Peter becomes aware of Wendy's presence when his phone rings while he is finding Michael. The siblings are separated when Peter attacks them, and Wendy finds Joey alive in a closed coffin. They find a window through which Joey escapes while Wendy discovers James, now severely mutilated and chained in the basement with a hook in place of his hand.
Tinkerbell betrays Peter after Wendy reveals that Steven misses him. Peter cuts off Tink's arm and gets into a fight with Wendy, in which she loses two fingers, until Michael appears and brutally beats Peter. James emerges from the basement, stabs Peter in the shoulder with his hook, and drags him away screaming.
A year later, Michael celebrates his birthday with Wendy, John and Mary. Wendy receives a phone call and hears the same music that was heard on Peter's original call, implying that he is still alive.
Cast[]
- Martin Portlock as Peter Pan
- Kit Green as Tinker Bell
- Peter DeSouza-Feighoney as Michael Darling
- Megan Placito as Wendy Darling
- Wallace Campbell as John Darling
- Olumide Olorunfemi as Tiger Lily
- Charity Kase as James/Captain Hook
- Nicholas Woodenson as Steven
- Teresa Banham as Mary Darling (Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2)
- Hardy Yusuf as Joey
- Jay Robertson as Cake Man
- Lucas Allermann as Young Hook
- Eddy Mackenzie as Lee
- Lyndon Stevens as Carl
- Holden M N Smith as Timmy/Young Tinker Bell
List of Deaths[]
- Peter kills Roxy
- Peter kills Lee
- Peter kills Bus Driver
- Peter kills School Boy 1
- Peter kills School Boy 2
- Peter kills School Boy 3
- Peter kills School Boy 4
- Peter kills School Boy 5
- Peter kills School Boy 6
- Peter kills School Boy 7
- Peter kills School Boy 8
- Peter kills School Boy 9
- Peter kills School Boy 10
- Peter kills School Boy 11
- Peter kills School Boy 12
- Peter kills School Boy 13
- Peter kills School Boy 14
- Peter kills School Boy 15
- Peter kills School Boy 16
- Peter kills School Boy 17
- Peter kills School Boy 18
- Peter kills Tiger Lily
- Peter kills Miles
- Peter kills Mel
- Peter Pan Kills Tinkerbell (debatable)
- Captain Hook kills Peter Pan (debatable)
Appearances[]
Locations[]
Events[]
Items[]
Vehicles[]
Sentient Species[]
Creatures[]
- Crocodiles (Television cameo)
Organizations[]
Mentioned[]
- Joey
- Mia
- Officer Daughtry
- George Darling
Production[]
Development[]
On 4 November 2022, Rhys Frake-Waterfield announced: Bambi: The Reckoning and Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare based on Bambi, a Life in the Woods and Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Would Not Grow Up/Peter And Wendy. Also revealed in November, after the production on Bambi: The Reckoning is wrapped up, they’ll return to Peter Pan, which had been due to film first, but script issues saw the projects switched around. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Blood and Honey producer Scott Jeffrey explained how there some behind the scenes changes have been, but both movies are very much on track. He said: "We were actually meant to be shooting Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, but we weren’t quite ready with the script. I was meant to direct Bambi but switched to Peter Pan as it’s more my style. I’m pushing Peter Pan until April, and Bambi starts shooting in January. So, we're very much prepping right now. It’s going to be wild." In February 2023, while discussing his ideas with The Hollywood Reporter, writer/director Rhys Frake-Waterfield shared some small details on how drastically one of the Peter Pan characters will differ from previous versions. Now in his Peter Pan-inspired movie, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, Frake-Waterfield plans on depicting the fairy Tinkerbell in a completely new way. The writer described the character as a “heavily obese” fairy that is “a recovering drug addict.” Frake-Waterfield also said that he’s planning on bringing all these once family-friendly characters — and more — into one unruly universe. “The idea is that we’re going to try and imagine they’re all in the same world, so we can have crossovers,” he says. “People have been messaging saying they really want to see Bambi versus Pooh.” On January 30, 2024, a sneak peek image was released, along with a release window set for Halloween 2024. Shaune Harrison and Paula Anne Booker-Harrison of The Prosthetic Studio will be working on the film’s visual effects.
Casting[]
In January 2024, Megan Placito, Kit Green, Charity Kase and Peter DeSouza-Feighoney joined the cast as Wendy Darling, Tinkerbell, James and Michael Darling. Philip Philmar was once cast in the film as Peter Pan. Set photos revealed that Piglet actor Eddy MacKenzie would be portraying a character named Lee in the film. Philip Philmar left the film at some point and was then recast with Martin Portlock. In May 2024, William Campbell joined the cast as John Darling and Olumide Olorunfemi was cast as Tiger Lily. Nicholas Woodenson was also cast in an undisclosed role, which was later revealed to be a character named Steven.
Filming[]
Filming began on May 9th, 2024, and wrapped on June 6th.
The film reportedly screened at the Toronto Film Festival to sell to distributors' on September 5th 2024.
Release[]
The film was due to release in late 2024. Although Scott, in the TCU fandom discord server, stated the film was delayed to early 2025 at the time the official trailer was also released. However, Dan Allen. Who is a editor on the film as well as the director of Bambi: The Reckoning has told a fan on Instagram that it's still likely releasing in 2024. The Instagram for Blood and Honey published a Spanish post that mentions a 2024 release and hasn't corrected them, leading fans to speculate Scott may be misinformed about the 2025 release or he could be telling the truth and the Spanish post was mistaken as well as Dan not being informed. Other websites such as IMDb, Google, Letterbox, and others still mention a 2024 Halloween release.
It's also possible the 2025 delay might only for the British release, seeing how Pooh 2 didn't release in the United Kingdom until much later and could be why ITN has it on it's page with the American release likely this year or if true early next year, possibly January or February.
IMDb would later update with the film reportedly coming in the United States on February 24, 2025, this date is yet to be confirmed by Scott and Rhys themselves due to IMDb being edited sometimes, although IMDb did get Winnie 2's March release correct in the past. the director of Cinderella's Curse and Oujia Castle has confirmed to a fan that Peter Pan release in February 2025, and Cue Cinemas and Scott confirmed the film’s release is in February 25th, 2025 officially confirming the release date. However most other websites would also confirm it releasing a day earlier which it’s also it’s likely release. It was released in America on January 13th for three days and later extended by Iconic Events.
Trivia[]
- Scott Jeffrey (or Scott Chambers) who produced Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, who also starred Christopher Robin, directed the film.
- The film was inspired by a combination of French Cinema, High Tension and The Black Phone.
- Before the film’s release, Scott, in the TCU fandom Discord server, confirmed that Mr. Smee, a character who is from J.M Barrie's original play and novel and is Captain Hook's right-hand man, would not appear in the film. However, he stated "You will know why", somewhat teasing that he would get a similar treatment to Eeyore from Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, though his mentioned death was very minor compared to Eeyore’s, which was the main reason the Crossbreeds became killers. At first, it was theorised that Lee, the store owner that Peter Pan kills in the film could be Smee or at least related to due to a similar sounding name, but this was eventually debunked.
- Eddy MacKenzie himself was interested in playing Smee as a fan asked him before on Instagram.
- Aside from Smee, both George Darling and Nana, the family dog, never appear in the film either, with the former only being mentioned. It’s possible that Mary and George are separated due to businesses or divorced, and that Nana has passed away from old age by the film’s events.
- Eddy MacKenzie himself was interested in playing Smee as a fan asked him before on Instagram.
- The Crocodile was confirmed to appear in the film before release, and does appear as a cameo on a black and white television show. During the film’s announcement, it was revealed that multiple crocodiles, alongside an “evil guy with a hook” would appear, suggesting that Captain Hook was meant to appear in a more antagonistic role, similar to his source material counterpart. However, likely due to budget reasons, this was changed to Captain Hook being a tragic false antagonistic, and The Crocodile being reduced to a television cameo.
- Chronologically, it happens before and during the events of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2.
- The original draft of the film had more fantastical elements, with the story taking place completely in Neverland, but was changed due to Scott believing it to have gone too far (mainly due to the rave party scene in Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 being so intense). It was additionally written by Scott and Matt Leslie together.
- Another draft of the film that was released online featured a Tarzan book entitled Tarzan: Beast of the Jungle, revealing that a Tarzan horror movie was planned for Phase 1 of the TCU, but never went into production due to there not being that much interest in it.
- Despite the audience being intended to question Neverland’s reality due to Pan being under drug abuse, Scott Chambers mentioned that a potential sequel would reveal the location as a real place.
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