Guy Ritchie, known for his work on Sherlock Holmes, will direct a new version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s pirate tale “Treasure Island.” It was also announced that Alex Harakis (Another Life) will write the script.

Treasure Island is a pretty universally known tale by Stevenson. It was first published in novel form in 1883, however, it was initially serialized in a children magazine under the title Treasure Island; or, the mutiny of the Hispaniola with Stevenson adopting the pseudonym Captain George North.

The book has been so intermingled with culture that many of the stereotypes we have for pirates originated with this novel including treasure maps marked with an “X”, schooners, the Black Spot,tropical islands, and one-legged seamen carrying parrots on their shoulders.

There has also been no shortages of adaptations of the famous story. There have been over 50 movie and TV versions made with the most recent notable incarnation being in 2002  with Treasure Planet – A Disney animated version set in space, with Long John Silver as a cyborg and many of the original characters re-imagined as aliens and robots, except for Jim and his mother, who are human.

The official plot summary for the novel is as follows:

Heady tale of a treasure map, a perilous sea journey across the Spanish Main, a mutiny led by the infamous Long John Silver, and a lethal scramble for buried treasure as seen through the eyes of cabin boy Jim Hawkins. An action-packed adventure story that will hypnotize young readers and entertain older ones.

Ritchie will produce along with Lionel Wigram (Sherlock Holmes) and Kevin McCormick (Saturday Night Fever). It was Wigram who originally adapted a stylized version of the novel, according to Deadline.com, as he also did with Sherlock Holmes, which Ritchie directed. Wigram set up the story before he and Ritchie became partners.

There is no word of when the big screen adaptation will hit theaters or who will star in the production.