New ‘Treasure Island’ Movie in The Works

Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, known for their work on The Peanut Butter Falcon, are working on a remake of Treasure Island for Disney.

Treasure Island is still in the early stages of development. Nilson and Schwartz describe it as “an Australian surfer version” of the classic adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, published in 1883.

Released in 1950, Treasure Island was Disney’s first completely live-action film and the first screen version of Treasure Island made in color. The film starred Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins and Robert Newton as Long John Silver. Newton’s portrayal of Long John Silver has helped popularize the portrayal of a pirate in pop culture.

In 1986, Disney released a 10-part follow-up series Return to Treasure Island, which starred Brian Blessed as Long John Silver, Christopher Guard as Jim Hawkins and Kenneth Colley as Ben Gunn. More prominently, Walt Disney Animation Studios released Treasure Planet, a science fiction adaptation of the classic story in which spaceships are powered by solar sails and resemble the 18th-century sailing vessels of the original Treasure Island.