Advertisement

Ice Cube to star in Disney-produced musical 'Oliver Twist'

Ice Cube

A modern musical take on the classic Dickens tale "Oliver Twist" is headed to the big screen with Ice Cube and the director of the smash Broadway hit "Hamilton."

In addition to playing the cruel, heartless role of Fagin, who leads a gang of boy pickpockets in London, Ice Cube will take on the role of co-writer for the Disney project, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The score is said to to cross different musical genres that will include hip hop.

"Hamilton"'s Thomas Kail has been tapped to direct the production.

It's not the first time the tale has been adapted by Disney: In 1988, the story was adapted into an animated movie replacing orphans with cats and dogs and relocated from London to New York.

Theater-going audiences also know the story from the wildly successful stage musical "Oliver!"

Ice Cube's last music-based film project, "Straight Outta Compton," received criticial acclaim and an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.