Gary Ross Directing 'Peter and the Starcatchers' Movie Adaptation

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Hunger Games" director Gary Ross is in negotiations to direct Walt Disney Pictures' film adaptation of "Peter and the Starcatchers," the Peter Pan prequel novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

The 2004 children's adventure book, which offers a backstory for J.M. Barrie's orphan boy who wouldn't grow up, was also adapted into a stage play with music that debuted at La Jolla Playhouse in 2009. After a successful Off-Broadway run in 2011, "Peter and the Starcatcher" moved to Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre in April 2012 and earned nine Tony Award nominations, winning five.

The story follows Peter, a young orphan boy who befriends a girl named Molly on board the "Never Land" ship and sets off on an adventure with her to prevent a mysterious trunk filled with magical "starstuff" from falling into the hands of the evil pirate Black "Stache" – who will later lose his hand and become Captain Hook.

Disney announced in May that Jesse Wigutow ("It Runs in the Family") is writing the screenplay. The film has been in development since 2005, when Disney initially hired Jay Wolpert ("Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl") to adapt the book.

Ross has also directed "Pleasantville" and "Seabiscuit."