Well it would seem that Guy Ritchie has officially moved on from making his trademark British gangster flicks to becoming just another Hollywood blockbuster helmer for hire. He now has two Sherlock Holmes movies under his belt with a third likely on the way, but he has also been attaching himself to several other tentpole properties as of late. Late last year he replaced Steven Soderbergh as the director of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. big screen adaptation, and he was also rumoured to be working on a Cannonball Run remake. Now this week it looks like he is preparing give The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise a run for its money by signing on to direct a new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island for Warner Brothers. Hmm… why am I suddenly picturing Robert Downey Jr. as Long John Silver?

According to Deadline, Ritchie will reteam with his Sherlock Holmes producer Lionel Wigram for the project. Wigram was the one who originally set up the project at Warner Brothers, even before he and Ritchie had started working together. Newcomer Alex Harakis is set to write the script, although it’s unclear if he will rewrite it from scratch or not.

Paul Greengrass was previously rumoured for the director’s chair on Treasure Island, but he ended up taking on a different pirate movie instead: the Tom Hanks-fronted Somali pirate flick Captain Phillips. Treasure Island has obviously been adapted quite a few times over the years, so it will be interesting to see what they do to set this one apart. I am anticipating some very modern, heavily stylized action sequences. What do you think, is Guy Ritchie a good choice to direct Treasure Island? Are you interested in a pirate movie that *doesn’t* star Johnny Depp?