Ice Cube will be coming *straight outta* Dickensian London when the actor/rapper/producer will star as Ebeneezer Scrooge in an upcoming remake of "A Christmas Carol."

According to Deadline, Cube will be playing the lead in Universal Pictures’ new adaptation of the Dickensian classic, which will see the self-centered money maker as a real estate mogul.

This latest version will be directed by Tim Story.

A Christmas Carol has been brought to the big screen several times over the years, with Alastair Sim’s turn in Scrooge regarded as one of the best.

More unique versions include "Mickey’s Christmas Carol" and "The Muppet Christmas Carol," while Bill Murray played a modern take on the miser in 1988’s "Scrooged," in which he was depicted as a misanthropic TV producer.

Meanwhile, Jim Carrey played Ebeneezer and all three spirits in an animated movie six years ago.

I should mention that Universal is the studio that backed "Straight Outta Compton" the N.W.A. biopic directed by F. Gary Gray, and co-produced by Ice Cube. So it looks like Universal wants to maintain a relationship with him. 

This news comes a couple of days after Universal announced that it’s developing a film telling the story of Def Jam Recordings – a project to add to the growing list of potential "hip-hop bios" that may (or may not) have the immense success of Universal’s "Straight Outta Compton" (which is on track to surpass $200 million in global box office) to thank for any studio interest in them.