Steampunk sequel to Oliver Twist gains momentum

Scene from Oliver Twist

An idea for a steampunk sequel to Oliver Twist – Charles Dicken’s famous story about a down and out boy who is really the son of a wealthy gentleman – has been completely redrafted from it’s previous version by none other than Cornetto Trilogy director Edgar Wright.

The title for the sequel comes from the novel “Dodge and Twist” by Tony Lee. It’s suggested that the film will feature either an adventure with Oliver Twist and Artful Dodger or even maybe a fight. It’s suggested that, twenty years away from the original story, the two thieves may have divided with the Dodger being the nemesis.

The idea for the screenplay came from Ahmet Zappa. He’s an actor/writer/producer who has worked on The Odd Life of Timothy Green (Jennifer Garner), Jack Frost (Michael Keaton) and Pump up the Volume (Christian Slater).

Keep up now, because then Dracula writer and producer Cole Haddon completed the screenplay. Then Simon Beaufoy took over and completely rewrote it. He’s known for writing screenplays for popular films such as The Hunger Games, Full Monty and Slumdog Millionaire. After a while, Edgar Wright got hold of it and has just submitted his version of the screenplay.

There’s very little information about the actual film as there’s been no green light on production. Mostly it’s assumption, such as Edgar Wright not actually directing as he already has two projects to deal with. There’s also a few names been thrown around for various characters such as Twist, Dodger and Queen Victoria who would have just been crowned Queen.

There comes a question as to where steampunk comes into it. After all, it’s a science fiction based aesthetic. Of course, Oliver Twist was a fictional story, but was set in a very real Georgian and Williamite (?) London. Can they really pull off a sequel with steam powered robots and clockwork bionic implants?

The origins of the film have been kicking around the Sony offices for two years now, so this submission by Wright could mean a surge in production or maybe just yet another folder to add to the pile.