The unstoppable Ridley Scott has a new project in the works, and this time he’s brought Hugh Jackman along as his first mate. Together, the two are set to sail the seven seas in a new nautical adventure adapting one of the most beloved seafaring tales of all time. However, the film is looking for a movie studio to be its port of call.
According to reports, Jackman is set to star in a new adaptation of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson novel Treasure Island. Jackman will play iconic pirate Long John Silver in the film, which is looking for a studio home. Scott has traditionally worked with 20th Century, and did present the project to the studio; however, as 20th Century is now an arm of the Disney octopus, the studio did not want to release a pirate project that might compete with its blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, which the studio intends to continue or reboot at some point in the future. Jack Thorne, who won acclaim for the gritty Netflix miniseries Adolescence, will pen the script. It will be Jackman‘s second time playing an iconic buccaneer; he portrayed a fictionalized version of Edward “Blackbeard” Teach in the 2015 Joe Wright fantasy film Pan.
What Is ‘Treasure Island’ About?
Written in 1883 and set in the 18th century, Treasure Island tells the tale of Jim Hawkins, an innkeeper’s son who gets mixed up with a mutinous crew of pirates led by salty sea dog Long John Silver. The story helped establish several elements of pirate iconography, including peg legs, talking parrots, and maps to buried treasure. It has been adopted for the screen many times before, most notably in 1950; actor Robert Newton starred as Long John Silver, and used his native West Country accent for the character, leading it to become the default “pirate accent.” In recent decades, it’s been filmed as Muppet Treasure Island (with Tim Curry as Silver) and the futuristic animated film Treasure Planet, and even been loosely adapted into the Star Wars series Skeleton Crew. A new miniseries adaptation is in the works, with Hayley Atwell, Jack Huston, and David Oyelowo as Silver.
The ever-busy Scott will soar into theaters later this summer with the post-apocalyptic adventure The Dog Stars, with Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin. Other projects on Scott‘s radar include a biopic of The Bee Gees and a follow-up to 2024’s Gladiator II.
Treasure Island is in development.
via Collider