Hugh Jackman is set to board Ridley Scott’s feature adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 classic novel Treasure Island. The Wolverine actor will portray the cunning pirate Long John Silver, adding to the growing list of classic characters Jackman has portrayed, which includes P.T. Barnum, Jean Valjean, Van Helsing, and Robin Hood.
Stevenson’s story of “buccaneers and buried gold” is one of the most, if not the most, adapted pirate stories ever written, being adapted not just for film and TV, but also for theatre, radio, comics, video games, and even songs. The tale centers on an English teenage boy named Jim Hawkins as he discovers a map of the mysterious island where the infamous Captain Flint hid his fortune. From there, Jim boards the Hispaniola in search of the treasure, but while on the ship, the boy and crew face revolt, which is led by the one-legged, parrot-carrying Long John Silver. As Variety stated, Treasure Island popularized many pirate tropes, such as “treasure maps marked with an ‘X’, the Black Spot, and one-legged seamen with parrots on their shoulders.”
Scott is set to direct from a script penned by Adolescence writer Jack Thorne and will produce with Michael Pruss under his Scott Free banner. Thorne will executive produce. While no other casting or production announcements have been released so far, Scott’s upcoming post-apocalyptic film, The Dog Stars, shared an official new trailer in preparation for its release on August 28th.
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