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Hugh Jackman will play pirate legend Long John Silver in a new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, Deadline reports. The Tony winner is set to star in the film, which will be penned by playwright and Emmy-winner Jack Thorne and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ridley Scott.
No studio is currently attached to the project, though 20th Century reportedly turned down the “brand new take” on the 1883 novel. Thorne will also executive produce, with Scott and Michael Pruss producing for Scott Free.
The original story charts the journey of teenager Jim Hawkins from a sheltered boy to an emboldened young pirate. When Jim gets his hands on a legendary treasure map, he embarks on a quest to find the buried treasure before befriending and then feuding with the charismatic pirate leader Long John Silver.
The novel has been adapted numerous times on stage and screen, including an upcoming series adaptation from MGM+. Other notable versions include Disney’s fan-favorite live-action version from 1950, featuring Bobby Driscoll and Robert Newton. A gender-swapped version, with Jim now as a young girl, played at the National Theater in 2014 and 2015.
Jack Thorne’s many theatre credits include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, King Kong, A Christmas Carol, The Motive and the Cue, When Winston Went to War with the Wireless, and Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which is currently on Broadway. For the screen, he wrote the hit series Adolescence and His Dark Materials, among others.
Jackman most recently appeared on Broadway in the revival of The Music Man, for which the actor was nominated for his second Tony Award. Onscreen, he played Jean Valjean in the film version of Les Misérables (which scored him an Oscar nomination) and P. T. Barnum in the musical The Greatest Showman.
His other Broadway credits include The River, Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway, A Steady Rain, and The Boy From Oz. He appeared in the West End production of Oklahoma! in 1998, as well as Off-Broadway in Carousel in 2002.
Photo Credit: Bruce Glikas
