Legendary N.W.A. rapper-turned-actor Ice Cube is going to be picking a pocket or two as Fagin, in a remake of Oliver Twist.
The 47-year-old (real name O’Shea Jackson) has reportedly also been made producer on the Disney reimagining of Charles Dickens’ classic novel.
According to The Hollywood Reporter the film will be a ‘modern and musical take’ on the story, which follows a young orphan boy on the streets of London as he’s taken in by a gang of pickpockets, led by the crafty Fagin.
2016’s Oliver Twist will a genre-hopping musical, according to sources, and you’d imagine that hip-hop will definitely be involved.
Thomas Kail, who won a Tony award for directing hit Broadway musical Hamilton, is set to make his cinematic directorial debut.
It’s not the first time Disney have turned their hand to Oliver Twist; 1988 animation Oliver and Company reimagined the Dickens tale with cats and dogs. The story has been retold in numerous other TV and movie adaptations, not to mention on-stage, but a fresh Hollywood twist will no doubt turn a few heads.
Ice Cube producing credits already include N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton (where his son was cast to play his younger self), Ride Along 2 and upcoming comedy Fist Fight.
