Syfy has decided to remake another classic this time touching on Treasure Island. Just this winter Syfy redid the story of Peter Pan with a miniseries dubbed an origin story called Neverland. In a press release given today, Syfy has grabbed an all star cast to head up this one night event.
NEW YORK – March 21, 2012 – In a special, one night only movie event, Syfy will present a fresh, new spin on the classic tale, Treasure Island, featuring an all-star cast led by Eddie Izzard, Elijah Wood and Donald Sutherland. Robert Louis Stevenson’s swashbuckling adventure story about fantastical treasure, youthful courage and murderous greed will premiere Saturday, May 5 from 7-11PM (ET/PT) on Syfy.
Izzard (The Riches, Ocean’s 12) stars as Long John Silver, Wood (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit) plays Ben Gunn and Sutherland (Pride and Prejudice, Ordinary People) portrays Flint.
Distributed by RHI Entertainment, the movie also stars Toby Regbo (Harry Potter) as young Jim Hawkins, who is unexpectedly drawn into the world of piracy when he discovers a treasure map and finds himself battling Silver for the treasure — and his life. Shirley Henderson (Bridget Jones) and Nina Sosanya (Love Actually) round out the Treasure Island cast.
Executive producers of Treasure Island are Robert Halmi Sr. for RHI Entertainment, Alan Moloney for Parallel Films, Mark Grenside for MNG Films, Melanie Stokes and Anne Brogan for Kindle Entertainment, and Annie Harrison-Baxter for Sky.
The producer is Laurie Borg (Made in Dagenham, Sense and Sensibility). Treasure Island is written by Stewart Harcourt (Hearts and Bones, Marple). The director is Steve Barron (Merlin, Arabian Nights).
The TV movie was released in the UK this last January to mixed reviews with ratings averaging 6.3/10. Sometimes SyFy does a good job with these TV movies, like Neverland, and sometimes they fail badly. We will have to watch it and see how it turns out. What do you think of the cast?
