Harry Potter alum Rupert Grint is getting in on the podcast game with a new serialised audiobook of Treasure Island.
In an adaptation for podcast network Noiser, Grint is set to play every single character from Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic 1883 novel, including the wide-eyed Jim Hawkins, silver-tongued Long John Silver, the rum-soaked Billy Bones, and half-mad castaway Ben Gunn. Episodes will drop weekly from Dec. 8.
“Noiser’s serialised audiobooks now reach over 50 million listens a year, which shows how much appetite there is for great storytelling in this format,” Noiser CEO Pascal Hughes told The Hollywood Reporter. “Treasure Island is where we bring the whole family in. Rupert is beloved by children and adults alike, and his performance is something truly special. Our hope is that kids fall in love with classic storytelling and grown-ups rediscover it.”
Stevenson’s 1883 novel gave the world much of what we now think of as pirate lore — the treasure map marked with an X, the squawking parrot, and a deserted island hiding a fortune. When a weathered old sailor arrives at a remote West Country tavern, young Jim Hawkins is swept into the adventure of a lifetime. A treasure map hidden in an old buccaneer’s sea chest takes him from the fog-laden English coast to the sun-scorched shores of a perilous island aboard the Hispaniola. But the crew harbours a dangerous secret, and Long John Silver is not all he seems.
Grint is known around the world for his role as Ron Weasley in the film adaptations of Harry Potter, and is set to reprise the role from February to May in Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. He’s starred in Cherrybomb, Into the White, Knock at the Cabin and Servant. His most recent movie role was in the Finnish horror Nightborn, which premiered in Berlin earlier this year, and his next is in Ebenezer with Johnny Depp.
Noiser is a U.K.-based podcast network reaching millions of listeners every week. Creators of hit shows including Real Vikings, Real Dictators, Short History Of, and Real Survival Stories, Noiser pride themselves on their immersive approach to audio storytelling and high-quality sound design.
Other British stars to have teamed up with Noiser include Dame Julie Andrews, who narrated an adaptation of Emma, and Hugh Bonneville’s narration of the Sherlock Holmes Short Stories.