U.K.-based Ecosse Films is set to adapt Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, Treasure Island, according to Variety.

Ecosse heads Douglas Rae and Robert Bernstein plan to update the 19th century tale of pirates and buried gold for contemporary audiences, playing up the relationship between Long John Silver and narrator Jim Hawkins.

Silver's character will be hipper, in the style of Robert Downey Jr's interpretation of Sherlock Holmes.

Traditionally considered a coming-of-age story, it is an adventure tale known for its atmosphere, character and action, and also a wry commentary on the ambiguity of morality-as seen in Long John Silver-unusual for children's literature then and now. It is one of the most frequently dramatised of all novels. The influence of Treasure Island on popular perception of pirates is vast, including treasure maps with an "X", schooners, the Black Spot, tropical islands, and one-legged seamen with parrots on their shoulders.

Niall Johnson is writing the script.

No production date has been set.