Hugh Jackman on doing Treasure Island
Hugh Jackman has had experience playing a pirate as Blackbeard in the Peter Pan prequel, Pan. Now, he’s embarking on the high seas again in search of booty in Ridley Scott’s new vision of Treasure Island. The talk is that the director was blown away by the script and that’s also how Jackman came aboard the project.
Jackman recently caught up with Variety and the interviewer asked the actor how he was sold on the movie. Jackman replied,
Really, it was the script. I know Ridley and Ridley goes, ‘Dude.’ He sent me the script, and I just read it. I had never read the book, had never seen the movie. I knew various things about it. I actually didn’t know how foundational it was — the idea of a treasure map, the pirate and the parrot and all. I was like, ‘Oh, they came from that.’ And Jack Thorne, who famously wrote Adolescence and did Harry Potter for the stage show — this script was just undeniable. I was just like, ‘Oh, this is amazing.’ That was it.”
He was then asked if it was the new take on the material that surprised him. Jackman answered,
All I knew was I had no idea where it was going, and I was very surprised but satisfied at the end.”
All About Ridley Scott’s Treasure Island
Treasure Island follows Jim Hawkins, a young boy who discovers a map to Captain Flint’s hidden fortune in the chest of a deceased pirate. He joins an expedition to the island, but the crew—led by the charismatic, one-legged cook Long John Silver—secretly mutinies, forcing Jim to outwit the pirates to survive.
This version is said to be a new take on the story, but it’s too early to say just how different it will be. Personally, a good ol’ fashioned pirate movie from Scott sounds like it could be a blast.
Jack Thorne (Adolescence) wrote the screenplay, which reportedly blew Scott away, and will also executive produce. Scott and Michael Pruss are producing through the Scott Free banner.
Jackman in Secret Wars?
One of the burning questions the interviewer asked Jackman is if he was involved in Avengers: Secret Wars at all. Jackman simply replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” After being complimented on his side-stepping the answer, Jackman amusingly responded, “I do have an internal chip, that is not metaphorical. There’s a literal chip, and if I say the wrong thing, I get shut down. I don’t know who controls that chip, but someone is controlling it.”
