Warner Bros. have been developing a Treasure Island project for some time now, with Bourne Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass circling the director's chair at one point. Now Ritchie has been hired to direct the adaptation with Alex Harakis penning the screenplay. Details of the film have so far been kept under wraps but as the Sherlock Holmes films were only loosely based on its source material, expect a freewheeling approach to Stevenson's classic.
Treasure Island follows the story of Jim Hawkins, who is given a treasure map by Billy Bones and sets off on an adventure aboard the Hispaniola with Captain Smollet, Squire Trelawney and the iconic Long John Silver. Thanks to a certain Caribbean based franchise, pirates are back in favour with Hollywood so it wouldn't surprise me if the film adopted a similar tone to the Disney films. Then again, for me, Ritchie will have to pull off something spectacular to even come close to Muppet Treasure Island.
There's no word yet on when the project will move into production as Ritchie's juggling a fair few developments currently, including the planned reboot of The Man From U.N.C.L.E and a sequel to RockNRolla.
Source: The Playlist
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