It started with an inspired notion by screenwriter James V. Hart's young son: What if Peter Pan, the eternal boy of J.M. Barrie's stage play and book, actually grew up? Such a high concept idea had never been approached in nearly 90 years of the adaptations of Barrie's characters and story for stage and screen.

Steven Spielberg, who had been developing his own adaptation of the Barrie story for a feature film, came across the Hart screenplay and sparked to the idea: here he would be able to take on the Pan story that had inspired him since Walt Disney's 1953 animated feature, yet marry his ongoing authorial interest in the failings—and the redemption—of the father.

In Hook, Peter Banning (Robin Williams) is a 40-something American attorney who has it all: a loving wife, two healthy kids and the business world at his mercy. But he has lost touch with something wonderful—he has forgotten how to let the child within himself, the actual Peter Pan, take flight.

On a trip to London to visit the Banning's Grandmother Wendy Darling, Peter's son and daughter are kidnapped by his old nemesis: the notorious, nefarious Captain James Hook (Dustin Hoffman), and dragged off to a faraway land. Peter is forced to fight his fears and trade the world of mergers, acquisitions and “the bottom line” for a fantastic Neverland alive with fairies, mermaids and bloodthirsty pirates.

Here, in this enchanted realm, he must put his life on the line to regain not only his children, but also rediscover the child he once was: Peter Pan.

Spielberg, Williams and Hoffman were joined with a topflight cast including Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith, Caroline Goodall, and young actors Charlie Korsmo and Amber Scott as the Banning children, to bring new life to the beloved characters of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan in an original story that juxtaposes the magic of Neverland with the concerns and realities of the present.

Hook is an epic fantasy about innocents imperiled and innocence regained; of Lost Boys who refuse to grow up and pirates who show no mercy; of a wondrous place with two suns and six moons, and a family that fights the temptations of evil to stay together.

Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Gerald R. Molen produced Hook for Amblin Entertainment and TriStar Pictures. The screenplay is by Jim V. Hart & Nick Castle, based upon the original stageplay and books written by J.M. Barrie. Dodi Fayed and Jim V. Hart were executive producers; Gary Adelson and Craig Baumgarten were co-producers.

Hook was released on December 11, 1991. The film garnered five Oscar nominations including Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Best Music—Original Song ("When You're Alone"). It also earned Dustin Hoffman a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture—Comedy or Musical.