Dodge and Twist would adapt Dickens' classic to action flick

Update follows Oliver and Artful Dodger 20 years on

CBC News

Posted: Feb 12, 2013 5:41 PM ET

Last Updated: Feb 12, 2013 6:37 PM ET

Barney Clark plays Oliver Twist, the boy who wanted more, in Roman Polanski's 2005 film version of Dickens' tale. A proposed Sony Pictures movie would update the story of Oliver and the Artful Dodger, catching up with them 20 years later. (Canadian Press)

Hollywood studio Sony Pictures is planning an update of Charles Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist, catching up with Oliver and the Artful Dodger 20 years later.

To be titled Dodge and Twist, it would place Oliver and the thief Dodger on opposite sides of the law and embroiled in plot to steal the crown jewels, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The adventure, an idea put forward by producer Ahmet Zappa, would be modeled on the Sherlock Holmes updates starring Robert Downey Jr.

Zappa, son of singer Frank Zappa, previously produced The Odd Life of Timothy Green.

The screenwriter is Cole Haddon, the creator of NBC’s upcoming series Dracula, a Victorian-era drama starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the legendary vampire.

The Hollywood Reporter says the Dodge and Twist project is being fast-tracked.

Oliver Twist has been adapted for stage and screen numerous times, including a 2005 version with Barney Clark as Oliver and the 1968 musical film Oliver! with Mark Lester as the orphan who asks for more food at the workhouse.

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