Sony Developing 'Oliver Twist' Re-Imagining With 'Dodge & Twist'

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Sony is updating Oliver Twist with Dodge and Twist, an adventurous take featuring the characters from Charles Dickens’ classic novel with Cole Haddon, the creator of the NBC’s upcoming Dracula show, writing the script.

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Matt Tolmach is producing alongside Ahmet Zappa and his Monsterfoot Productions.

The project is set on an idea by Zappa and not on the more serious book of the same name by Tony Lee.

Taking a page out of the recent Robert Downey Jr.-starring Sherlock Holmes movies, Twist takes pickpocketing rivals Oliver Twist and Artful Dodger and re-imagines them 20 years down the road. The two are on opposite sides of the law and get embroiled in an affair to steal the Crown Jewels.

Hannah Minghella and Andrea Giannetti are overseeing this project, which is considered a favorite of the production team and is on the development fast track.

Haddon’s Dracula is currently casting, with King Kong and The River alum Thomas Kretschmann joining the Jonathan Rhys Meyers period drama in the legendary role of Abraham Van Helsing. Haddon (ICM, Anonymous Content and Felker Toczek) also is writing Savage Planet for Sony.

Tolmach is producing the aforementioned Savage Planet and is in preproduction on The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Both projects are being produced with Avi Arad.

Zappa was a producer on Disney’s The Odd Life of Timothy Green, which was based on his idea, and is developing a big-screen version of Fraggle Rock.