The latest entry in Hollywood’s ongoing war on the sanctity of classic film is looking to be the swashbuckling pirate classic Treasure Island.
Reportedly, production company Ecosse Films is preparing a new version of author Robert Louis Stevenson’s timeless tale of high-seas adventure. Of course, this time around, the story is going to be much more “hip” and “edgy” and “sexy.”
Yes. You read that right. Apparently the remake is aiming for the same audience reached by last year’s hit Sherlock Holmes by following that film’s example of incorporating more modern spectacle and less alienating, period-specific action and dialogue. Writer/Director Guy Ritchie’s slightly modernized Holmes was such a lucrative outing that a sequel is in the works, and the movie’s model is already being used to revamp another literary benchmark: The Three Musketeers.
So why the outpouring of skepticism over the new takes on these classic stories? Well, for starters, nearly all of the “modern” techniques and devices used in Ritchie’s Holmes, such as kung-fu, drug use, underground boxing, and risque humor are present in Doyle’s source material. Unfortunately, a book like the sprawling coming-of-age tale that is Treasure Island doesn’t quite lend itself to modernization, save for the opportunity for expanded swordfighting sequences and grittier pirate attitudes.
What do you think? Should the new Treasure Island be more Pirates of the Carribean or Master and Commander? Sound off, me hearties!
[...] to create a new, young action franchise. Most likely in the same “sexy” vein as the new Treasure Island and The Three Musketeers.Hit the comments section and give us your opinion on who could portray the [...]
[...] helped inspire studios to greenlight sexy, more action-oriented versions of other classics such as Treasure Island and The Three Musketeers. No wonder then that sequel expectations are building pretty rapidly.Jude [...]