Hugh Jackman Trades Claws for a Peg Leg as Ridley Scott Sets Sail With a ‘Treasure Island’ Adaptation
Few literary adventures have proven as irresistible to Hollywood as Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale of buried treasure and moral ambiguity on the high seas, and now one of cinema’s most enduring directors is putting his own stamp on the source material. Ridley Scott is directing a new adaptation of Stevenson’s classic novel, with Hugh Jackman set to star as the iconic pirate Long John Silver. The project immediately registers as one of the most exciting packages to hit the market this year, drawing on a combination of talent that feels almost too good to be believed.
The screenplay comes from Jack Thorne, the Emmy-winning writer behind the cultural phenomenon ‘Adolescence,’ with Scott and Michael Pruss producing under the Scott Free banner and Thorne also serving as executive producer. The pedigree assembled here is striking on every level. ‘Adolescence,’ which won big at the Emmys, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes, follows a 13-year-old boy tragically influenced by incel culture and misogynistic social media. Thorne’s ability to probe moral complexity and youthful disillusionment makes him a genuinely intriguing choice to reimagine a story that has always lived in those same shadowy spaces between hero and villain.
The package, first reported by Deadline, is being shopped to all major studios this week, though 20th Century Studios has reportedly opted out of the race. Those familiar with the package indicate that this adaptation slightly departs from Stevenson’s source material, framing it as a “brand new take” on the beloved story. Exactly how Thorne and Scott plan to reinvent the text remains the tantalizing unknown hovering over the whole announcement.
The original 18th-century coming-of-age story follows young Jim Hawkins as he finds a map to Captain Flint’s long-lost fortune and embarks on a perilous voyage aboard the Hispaniola, where Jim and the crew face mutiny led by the cunning, one-legged cook Long John Silver, before ultimately outsmarting the pirates to claim the gold. Silver is an anti-hero so morally ambiguous and charismatic that he has inspired the piracy archetype for more than a hundred years, and the last major Hollywood adaptation was Disney’s 2002 ‘Treasure Planet,’ which transported the story into a science fiction setting.
For Jackman, the role adds yet another classic character to a filmography that already includes Wolverine, P.T. Barnum, Van Helsing, Jean Valjean, and most recently Robin Hood. He is a performer who has built his career on physical charisma and theatrical weight, and Long John Silver is precisely the kind of larger-than-life, morally slippery figure that seems tailor-made for his range. Before stepping into Silver’s boots, Jackman will next be seen in ‘The Death of Robin Hood,’ set for release on June 19.
Scott, meanwhile, enters this project from a place of genuine momentum. ‘Gladiator II’ generated more than $460 million at the global box office, and his upcoming sci-fi thriller ‘The Dog Stars,’ starring Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, and Margaret Qualley, is set for release through 20th Century Studios in late August. Remarkably, despite having directed multiple films set on boats, Scott has never made a pirate movie, making ‘Treasure Island’ genuinely uncharted territory for one of cinema’s most prolific voices.
With a director who has never touched the genre, a writer fresh off one of the most talked-about shows in recent memory, and a star capable of carrying both the charm and the menace that Silver demands, this is shaping up to be a must-watch project from the moment it lands at a studio. Whether you want Silver played as a genuine villain, a roguish antihero, or something altogether harder to categorize, share your hopes for how Jackman and Scott will reimagine the character below.
