Finding Neverland is a 2004 biographical fantasy film directed by Marc Forster and written by David Magee, based on the 1998 play The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee.

The film stars Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Radha Mitchell, and Dustin Hoffman, with Freddie Highmore in a supporting role.

The film earned seven nominations at the 77th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor for Depp, and won for Best Original Score.

In 1903, following the dismal reception of his latest play, Little Mary, Sir James Matthew Barrie meets the widowed Sylvia and her four young sons (George, Jack, Peter and Michael) in Kensington Gardens.

Barrie's wife Mary divorces and Sylvia's mother Emma du Maurier objects to the time that he spends with the Llewelyn Davies family.

The town is featured in multiple fantasy-playing sessions set in the Wild West, when Barrie (Johnny Depp) plays with the Llewellyn Davies boys.

The screenplay for Finding Neverland had originally included a scene in which his character, the play's sceptical producer, was to put on the Captain Hook costume and read some of his lines to point out how silly he found it.

The website's consensus states: "It won't pass muster for those looking for historical accuracy, but Finding Neverland is a warm, heartfelt drama with a charm all its own — and Johnny Depp gives a graceful performance as Peter Pan creator J.M.

And if the tone veers a little haphazardly between fantasy and cold, hard reality, well, perhaps that is the most effective way of taking us into the mind of the film's mercurial protagonist.

Instead of real quirks, strange habits, moments of everyday gas, gurgle and grunting, movies like this give us sumptuous production design, meticulous costumes and stories meant to leave us dewy-eyed and thoughtful, if never actually disturbed...

"[14] In the St. Petersburg Times, Steve Persall gave the film a "B" grade, and commented, "A first viewing of Finding Neverland was tear-inducing and completely satisfying.

"[15] Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times described the film as "gently seductive, genuinely tender and often moving without being maudlin", and added, "Depp and Winslet share a rare combination of airiness, earthiness and sharp, wry intelligence.

"[16] On 6 February 2011, La Jolla Playhouse, California, announced that it would produce a new stage musical based on the film, with the book by Allan Knee, score by Scott Frankel and Michael Korie, and directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford.

[18] A developmental reading was held in New York 31 March 2011 with Julian Ovenden, Kelli O'Hara, Tony Roberts, Mary Beth Peil, Michael Cumpsty and Meredith Patterson, directed by Ashford.

Directed by Rob Ashford, it stars Julian Ovenden as J. M. Barrie, and West End actress Rosalie Craig as Sylvia Llewelyn Davies.

[21] On 10 November 2014, it was announced that Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe-nominee Matthew Morrison would take Jordan's place in the portrayal of J. M. Barrie in the production's 2015 move to Broadway.