Screen Rant » robin hood

New Universal Films to Watch Out For: Robin Hood, MacGruber

Brian Gresko — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:46:27 +0000

Universal Studios has posted synopses of some of their major 2010 films, and two are piquing our interest here at Screen Rant.

The first is “Untitled Robin Hood Adventure,” directed by Ridley Scott of Blade Runner, Alien, Black Hawk Down, and I could keep going, fame. Russell Crowe steps into the tights (well, more like armor this time around looking at the Crowe’s Robin Hood costume) of the mythic English folk hero who enacted his own economic stimulus package for the peasants of Nottingham village.

This story has come to the big screen countless times, twice in one year even, with 1991 seeing Patrick Bergin in Robin Hood matching barbs with Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Some would say neither film, which played up the bandit’s romantic soul and added period realism, hit the bull’s-eye, and still consider Errol Flynn’s swashbuckling The Adventures of Robin Hood the gold standard. Scott’s version sounds a bit bloodier than that classic:

The untitled Robin Hood adventure chronicles the life of an expert archer, previously interested only in self-preservation, from his service in King Richard’s army against the French. Upon Richard’s death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from the corruption of a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation, where he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marion (Oscar winner Cate Blanchett), a woman skeptical of the identity and motivations of this crusader from the forest. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marion and salvage the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct injustices under the sheriff.

Lethal mercenary skills? Have Friar Tuck and Little John been taking lessons from The Fraternity? Seriously though, archery and swordplay aside, there’s a lot to crow about here (excuse the pun). Crowe and Scott have an established track record with both action hits like Gladiator and gritty dramas like American Gangster, while Blanchett brings surprising depth to even the slightest roles. And with the current economic situation not looking to ease anytime soon, this tale is ripe for reinvention.

The second synopsis that sounds promising is MacGruber, a film based on the Saturday Night Live skit, starring Will Forte, Ryan Phillippe, Kristen Wiig, and Val Kilmer.

Before you start the usual heckling that comes when an SNL skit tries to jump to the big screen, check this out:

In the 10 years since his fiancée was killed, special op MacGruber has sworn off a life of fighting crime with his bare hands. But when he learns that his country needs him to find a nuclear warhead that’s been stolen by his sworn enemy, Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer), MacGruber figures he’s the only one tough enough for the job.

I love it. Kilmer has had comedy chops since his debut in the hilarious slapstick Top Secret! and with Wiig and Phillippe on board as part of MacGruber’s elite team, this one sounds like a can’t miss.

Word is the movie’s getting an R rating for violence as well as its script, which is apparently chock full of quotable, NSFW lines. Will MacGruber join the ranks of The Blues Brothers and Wayne’s World of actually watchable, funny, successful films? I hope so.

Source: Universal Studios

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‘Dark Knight’ Producers Making Futuristic Robin Hood Flick

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:59:00 +0000

Risky Business Blog has a story claiming that Warner Bros. and the producers of The Dark Knight and 300 are set to bring a futuristic take on the legend of Robin Hood to the big screen. This new comes close on the heels of Universal and Ridley Scott’s cinematic re-imagining of the classic Robin Hood tale, which stars Russell Crowe and is due out next summer.

Who knew that Robin Hood would be making such a big comeback in the new millennium?

The yet-untitled “Future Robin Hood” will apparently be a “futuristic action adventure” set in a dystopian London where a band of thieves seek to restore hope to the downtrodden populace through the classic Robin Hood practice of taking from the Rich (and/or powerful) and giving to the poor.

Signed-on to helm the film is TV commercial director Nicolai Fuglsig, who originally wowed producers at Atlas Entertainment (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) and Hollywood Gang while pitching his concept for the film. Said Atlas producer Charles Roven:

“His stunning visual presentation blew me away…He has a very clear vision for the film, one that will re-invent and modernize a classic story.”

Of course it’s easy to impress producers when you’re already in bed with them: Fuglsig is currently developing another project called Bleederback with Atlas.

So we come to the inevitable question: how much Robin Hood is TOO much? Ridley Scott’s movie will barely be out of our memories before we are expected to shell out more dollars to see – what seems to be at this early stage – essentially the same story, just set in two different epochs. I experienced something similar when I rented Highlander and Highlander II at the same – and let me just tell you, that is an experience I could happily forget. Highlander II… (Shudders).

What do you think: does hearing this news about “Future Robin Hood” make you want to scream “Too Soon!” Or are you interested in seeing two different interpretations of the character?

Source: The Hollywood Reporter via Coming Soon

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Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – July 30, 2009

Niall Browne — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:01:51 +0000

In the Wrap Up this week:

Warner Bros get jiggy with their release dates; Paul W.S. Anderson is The Warded Man; Schwentke sees Red with Willis and Freeman; [UPDATED] Will Spielberg helm Helm? Russell Crowe and Paul Haggis are busy for The Next Three Days and Matthew McConaughey and Eva Mendes are Southbound.

1. Warner Bros seem to be conducting a merry dance of release date shuffles. The water tower studio has changed the release dates of three high profile films.

A Nightmare on Elm Street has been pushed back two weeks from April 16, 2010 to April 30th.

Meanwhile the Josh Broli n/ Megan Fox comic book western Jonah Hex has been moved forward from August 30 to June 18 2010. This switch to a prime mid-summer slot gives the indication that Warner Bros have a lot of confidence in the film, as late August is often seen as a movie dumping ground.

John Cusack’s The Factory will now open in on January 28, 2011 – three years after it started shooting! That is not a good sign.

Source: Shock Till You Drop

2. The very busy Paul W.S. Anderson and his producing partner Jeremy Bolt have bought the rights to Peter V. Brett’s The Warded Man.

According to the Hollywood Reporter:

“The book is set in an undetermined future where mankind is beset by nightly attacks from demon-kind and has been thrown back into a feudal state. Three young people emerge with the potential power to turn the tide, including the title character, a man who has wards (spells) tattooed on his body.”

The book is the first in The Demon Cycle trilogy. Anderson and Bolt hope that the book and film will become the new Lord of The Rings. I thought that The Hobbit was the new Lord of the Rings. Oh well…

Anderson is attached to direct the film, which I assume will start shooting next year at the earliest, as Anderson will be busy calling the shots on Resident Evil 4.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

3. Robert Schwentke the director of the forthcoming The Time Traveler’s Wife (featuring onetime Hulk Eric Bana) is in negotiations to direct Red, the film adaptation of the WildStorm/DC comic.

“The spy film follows a former black-ops agent forced out of retirement when a high-tech assassin threatens him and his girlfriend.”

The film is set to star Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman. Who knew that Freeman was such a comic fan? In the last few years he has starred in Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Wanted.

Willis too seems to be getting in on the comic action with Sin City and the soon-to-be-released Surrogates and now Red.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

4. Steven Spielberg is rumored to be interested in directing a new film version of Matt Helm, the old franchise that starred Dean Martin in the 1960’s and which was a pastiche of the Connery-era James Bond films.

The film has been in development for several years but apparently Spielberg’s interested in a new rewrite by Paul Attanasio (Donnie Brasko) which is supposed to be more in the vein of the new Bond and Jason Bourne films.

Matt Helm was originally developed by Dreamworks when they had the short-lived marriage with Paramount Pictures, but after a messy divorce, Paramount received sole custody of the project. Paramount has been cost-cutting lately and Spielberg’s attachment means a big payday and the studio is wary of spending big bucks on hiring the über-expensive director.

The last time Spielberg tried to make a Bond-esque action film he ended up with the Indiana Jones trilogy, so it would appear that it’s a pretty sound financial choice for the studio, who hope that Matt Helm will be a franchise starter.

The studio (and producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci) will have a choice of 27 Matt Helm novels to choose from for a script. The books were written by the prolific Donald Hamilton.

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Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – July 15, 2009

Kofi Outlaw — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:59:37 +0000

It’s officially mid-week and here’s what’s going on:

Harry Potter waves his wand at midnight and conjures box office records; the Heathers may be gone for good; Cox and Arquette are Screaming again; Robin Hood has its King Richard; The Limey may get a sequel; it’s a wrap for Nightmare on Elm Street; The Crow will fly again for the first time; Warner Bros. may be returning to the Major League; and The Toronto Film Festival has a list of flicks that could become next year’s greats.

Let’s get to it:

1. Variety is reporting that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince conjured up a whopping $20 million in box office receipts from midnight showings alone. If this figure holds, it would make the sixth installment of J.K. Rowling’s wizard adventure the highest-grossing midnight debut of all time. Previous record holders were The Dark Knight ($18 million) and Revenge of the Sith ($17 million).

I myself had to walk almost a quarter-mile to my theater at 1 a.m. this morning to see HBP, the parking lot was so full. People love that Harry…

Source: Variety

2. Winona Ryder recently got Generation Xers all in a tizzy by once again floating the notion that there could be a forthcoming sequel to the 1988 high school shooting black comedy, Heathers. This isn’t the first time Ryder has touched on the subject, however this time, Heathers director Michael Lehmann is shooting down the rumor, claiming “Winona’s been talking about this for years — she brings it up every once in a while and [screenwriter] Dan Waters and I will joke about it, but as far as I know there’s no script and no plans to do the sequel.”

That’s good news: I don’t think we’re quite ready to start laughing at school shootings again.

Source: Slash Film

3. David Arquette let E! Online know that he and wife Courtney Cox-Arquette are officially signed on for Scream 4. We’ve known the deal was in the works for some time but you don’t get much better confirmation than this:

I fell in love with my wife on Scream, so the opportunity to bring [Dewey] back to life and for my wife to play that really bitchy character again, it’s just going to be really fun…It’s just great.

Awwwww, how romantic! Let’s hope one (or both) of them gets butchered. Four films in a horror franchise is longer than anybody deserves to live.

Source: E! Online

4. Actor Danny Huston sure is keeping busy: he’s was the head vamp in 30 Days of Night, Wolverine’s nemesis Col. Stryker – he has an upcoming role playing a god in the Clash of the Titans remake and now he’s been crowned king of Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood.

That’s right, Huston will play the role of King Richard I. In Robin Hood folklore, Richard’s time away from England while fighting The Crusades is what led to the power-grabs of Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham. The role sounds minor, but I’m sure Huston will make it memorable.

Source: Coventry Telegraph

5. Steven Soderbergh’s wife, former E! host Jules Asner, was doing in interview with Adam Carolla when she let a little nugget slip regarding Soderbergh’s 1999 cult-hit The Limey, starring Terrence Stamp: “[Steven] wants to do a sequel to The Limey and Terrence wants to do it.”

The Limey 2: it’s just wishful thinking right now – but then again this IS Hollywood, and where there’s a buzz, there’s a way…

Source: Digital Spy

6. The Crow will fly again – but we should all just pretend like its the first time.

Blade director Stephen Norrington has reportedly turned in a draft of a Crow script that is “a whole new story about a whole new character.” Fans of Alex Proyas’ (Knowing) 1994 version of The Crow (starring the late Brandon Lee), try not to be too disappointed.

Source: Bloody Disgusting

7. Thanks to Twitter we now know that the A Nightmare On Elm Street remake has officially wrapped its shoot. As tweeted by producer Brad Fuller: “Just wrapped- sad. This was a fun movie to make,”.

The film now goes into post-production so that they can add all the crazy f/x needed to transform Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) into your worst razor-fingered nightmare.

A Nightmare On Elm Street will be in theaters on April 16, 2010.

Source: Bloody Disgusting

8. Actor Bob Uecker, who famously played booze-swilling announcer Harry Doyle in 1989s Major League, recently let it be known that he’s been contact by the creative team behind the Major League trilogy (yep, there’s three of them), about reprising his role for Major League 4.

Although this year marks the 20th anniversary of the baseball comedy that helped usher the careers of Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, Dennis Haysbert, Renne Russo and others, early speculation is that Major League 4 will go straight to the minors, a.k.a. the DVD bargain bin.

Source: Slash Film

9. Finally, the 2009 Toronto Film International Festival has released the list of movies which will be featured this year. If you’re interested you can keep up with ever-evolving list by going here.

That’s it for now. See you again at the end of the week.

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Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood Rides In Style

Rob Keyes — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:05:16 +0000

Every few weeks, we seem to find new photos popping up from the set of Ridley Scott’s new Robin Hood adventure. The film is originally titled Robin Hood, as we found out last week from Russell Crowe in a radio interview with him revealing some details on the film and an epic action sequence he was shooting.

Keeping up with the tradition, today we have a few new photos of the prince of thieves, this time, while riding his loyal mount(s).

First up, we have Robin Hood riding his trusty white horse:

Robin Hood and his horse out for some exercise

Continue on for the other images…

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Robin Hood Updates: Film Title & Details

Rob Keyes — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:53:17 +0000

It was only a month and a half ago when we got our first look at Russell Crowe in costume, filming Ridley Scott’s current Robin Hood film project. Since then, we’ve not seen much on the project other than some set photos and casting choices.

Today, we finally know what the film will be called and we have a few details on what style the film will take (how gruesome it may be).

Alan Jones, from Live News, had a chance to speak with Russell Crowe while he was on set shooting Robin Hood and their conversation gave some interesting updates on the movie.

First off, let’s talk about the film’s title. For a very long time the project was known as Nottingham. This was more relevant back in the day when the film was said to be an original take on the Robin Hood story where it would focus on the perspective of the Sheriff where he would be the hero and Robin Hood the villain.

Eventually, Ridley Scott dropped that interesting idea and went for the traditional Robin Hood story that’s currently shooting in England. With that in mind and according to what Russell Crowe has to say about the film’s title, it sounds like we’ll be getting the traditional film title to go along with its story:

“I think it’s just going to be Robin Hood. There were lots of other ways of calling it and some different ideas. Prior to Christmas, the studio were talking about Nottingham as a title being well-known now, having been discussed for 18 months at the highest levels of press and marketing and stuff like that and it was a good – what they called a solid gold – name… And the question came up: But is it better than Robin Hood? And everybody just shook their head and said: No, it’s not.”

It makes sense to call it Robin Hood for the obvious name recognition and Crowe makes a good point, referencing the title of one of his prior movies, Cinderella Man, which hurt the film in the end.

As for what to expect about the style of the film – It won’t be your regular archer in green tights! Crowe’s Robin Hood is a bad-ass warrior and in the interview he describes where in one particular scene, he goes King Leonidas (300) on a bunch of enemy soldiers:

“chopping one guy through the chest through his crossbow, hacking another guy through the back, spinning the horse, telling Little John to duck cause he’s about to get a pike in the back of the neck, burying my sword in that man’s chest, turning then to find another pike man coming at me, taking the pike off him, using that to uppercut another soldier, then actually throwing it through the chest of another guy”

Geeze man, I can’t image what he’ll do with a bow and some arrows…

What do you think of the simply being titled Robin Hood and description of the one action scene?

To hear the full 10-minute audio interview, head over to Live News.

Robin Hood hits theaters May 14, 2010.

Sources: The Geek Files, Live News

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Movie News Wrap Up: May 25, 2009

Niall Browne — Mon, 25 May 2009 19:34:42 +0000

This week:
Ben Stiller has no time for Salvation at the box office; George Clooney is a Private Gentleman; Lyndsy Fonseca gets into the Hot Tub Time Machine; Milla Jovovich throws a Stone; Ridley Scott looks for a younger Robin Hood and Kevin Costner makes a western – I’m not kidding.

Box Office

It looks like Ben Stiller is going to stay bankable in family films. Night at the Museum 2: Battle Of The Smithsonian should bank an impressive $70 million over the four day weekend. Does that mean that they’ll inflict a third movie on us? Probably.

Terminator: Salvation will shoot up about $62 million over the long weekend. Not exactly the box office superstar they were hoping it would be.

Angels and Demons and Star Trek should both manage about $28 million over the weekend. Star Trek has blown past Wolverine in U.S. ticket sales despite having opened one week later – $191MM vs. $165MM. Worldwide Wolverine is still ahead of Star Trek.

Dance flick spoof.. Er… Dance Flick should pocket about $12 million.

Movie News

1. He was Dr Doug Ross; he was Batman and now he’s A Very Private Gentleman. George Clooney will star in an adaptation of the Martin Booth novel to be directed by Anton Corbjin.

According to Variety:
“Clooney will play an assassin who hides out in an idyllic Italian town before carrying out a final assignment. He resists his usual aversion to human interaction, and his friendships and romantic entanglements complicate his mission.”

Sounds like it could be a classy movie.

Source: Variety

2. Lyndsy Fonseca will be taking a dip in the Hot Tub Time Machine.
Fonseca will play John Cusack’s girlfriend in the film that has a hot tub which is a time machine.

The title says it all really.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

3. Milla Jovovich will star opposite Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton in Stone.

“Jovovich will play the wife of a convicted arsonist (Norton). Desperately looking to be paroled, Norton has Jovovich engage in a dangerous affair with his parole officer (De Niro), entrapping him in a series of deadly psychological games.”

DeNiro has been relatively quiet of late, remember a few years ago when he had a new film out every other week?

Source: Variety

4. Casting is underway in England for a young Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood. The filmmakers are looking for an 11 year old boy to play a younger version of the infamous folk hero. It looks like the film will be detailing all of Robin’s life and not just his tight wearing days in Sherwood Forest.

5. Former Robin Hood Kevin Costner is developing a western mini-series for A&E. Costner will produce the series and he may also direct and star – depending on the script.

Over the years Costner’s name has become synonymous with the western genre with the star having roles in Silverado, Dances With Wolves, Wyatt Earp and Open Range.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

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New Set Photos From Robin Hood

Paul Young — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:36:39 +0000

Casting news has been coming out of Hollywood at a furious pace for the upcoming Ridley Scott-directed Robin Hood, with names like Cate Blanchett, Kevin Durand and William Hurt signing on to co-star in the film. Cate Blanchett acquired the role of Maid Marion from Sienna Miller after producers determined Miller wasn’t old enough to play the love interest for the forty-five year old Crowe.

Early last month, we gave you the first look at Russell Crowe as the title character, Robin Hood. Now we have three more photos to show you that were taken during the filming of a scene in Bourne Woods, Surrey in the UK.

These are not high resolution production stills but they give us a peek at the look and style of the film.

The first is the official release of Russell Crowe in 12th century garb that we showed you last month.

Russell Crowe as Robin Hood

Continue to Page 2 for the production stills.

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Robin Hood’s Sheriff Of Nottingham Finally Revealed!

Rob Keyes — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:25:23 +0000

Last week, Screen Rant reported on the first ever image of Russel Crowe as Robin Hood in the upcoming Ridley Scott-directed adventure. It depicted Crowe in full costume sporting his Caesar-style haircut (reminiscent of Gladiator) while holding a longbow.

In our report, I discussed briefly on how the project had changed drastically from its initial plan to feature the Sheriff of Nottingham as the central character and hero of the story. Since then, it has returned to the classic Robin Hood story with the prince of thieves as the central character and the film began shooting that way.

What we were still awaiting, however, is information on who will play the Sheriff. They had the strange idea to have Crowe play both him and Robin Hood but that fortunately didn’t last long. Since then, casting reports and official announcements didn’t include details on who’s playing the Sheriff.

Well, now we know actor Matthew Macfadyen (Pride and Prejudice, Death at a Funeral, Frost/Nixon) has been cast to play the Sheriff of Nottingham in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood. This had been rumored online but Peter over at /Film did some digging and confirmed it.

According to Scott, in the revised plot for the film, the Sheriff is a significantly less important character and the primary villain would instead be the country of France. Either way, they brought in a quality actor for the role but from his previous performances in major roles, I can’t picture him as a dark and evil character so it’ll be interesting to see him in character.

What do you think of the new Sheriff in town?

Robin Hood is scheduled to open as the second major tent-pole movie next summer on May 14, 2010

Source: Topix

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First Look At Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood

Rob Keyes — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:46:28 +0000

The first picture of Russell Crowe as Robin Hood has finally been released and it looks great!

The movie is currently shooting and in recent weeks we’ve been seeing an onslaught of casting updates. Joining Crowe in this adventure are Cate Blanchett (Maid Marian), Mark Strong (Sir Godfrey), Kevin Durand (Little John), William Hurt (William Marshall), Scott Grimes (Will Scarlet), Vanessa Redgrave (Queen Eleanor) and Alan Doyle (Alan-a-Dale).

Interestingly, we still don’t know who will be playing the Sheriff of Nottingham, the character originally set to be played by Crowe (back when Christian Bale was supposed to play Robin Hood and even after that when Crowe was apparently going to play both characters…).

Russell Crowe as Robin Hood

Three things I first noticed from the image:

Crowe lost a ton of weight from his role in State of Play
Crowe’s rocking his same “Caesar” hairstyle from Gladiator
This Robin Hood doesn’t wear tights.

All of which are good things in my opinion! Producer Brian Grazer had this to say about the updated version of the prince of thieves:

“He doesn’t have the old Robin Hood tights… He’s got armor. He’s very medieval. He looks, if anything, more like he did in Gladiator than anything we’re used to seeing with Robin Hood.”

I think this picture is great – It doesn’t match what I had in my head for the agile archer and thief but this warrior-look works for me.

The synopsis of the film is as follows:

“The untitled Robin Hood adventure chronicles the life of an expert archer, previously interested only in self-preservation, from his service in King Richard’s army against the French. Upon Richard’s death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from the corruption of a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation, where he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marian (Blanchett), a woman skeptical of the identity and motivations of this crusader from the forest. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marian and salvage the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct injustices under the sheriff.”

What do you think of the new live-action incarnation of the infamous Robin Hood?

Robin Hood is directed by Ridley Scott and scheduled to release May 14, 2010, one week after Iron Man 2.

Source: USA Today

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Will William Hurt Robin Hood?

Niall Browne — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:37:00 +0000

Oscar winning actor William Hurt has joined the cast of Ridley Scott’s untitled Robin Hood film (previously titled Nottingham). Hurt, the veteran star of numerous Hollywood and indie films, will star as William Marshall, the Earl of Pembroke in the film that is headlined by Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchette as Robin Hood and Maid Marian. Scott Grimes, Kevin Durand and Alan Doyle are The Merry Men.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“William Marshall, the Earl of Pembroke, a historical figure who was one of the most powerful men in Europe. Marshall was a servant to the Plantagenet kings and one of the best jousters of the era.”

Hurt is a first class actor who has recently starred in The Incredible Hulk and Damages on television. In recent years Hurt has slipped into some meaty supporting roles – often being the best thing in the film. Notable occasions of this are Mr. Brooks, in which he made a wonderful pairing with previous Robin Hood Kevin Costner, and A History of Violence where his appearance towards the end of the film earned him an Oscar nomination and was a master class in scene stealing.

With Hurt onboard it looks like Scott finally has his cast set for the Brian Helgeland written film- it’s about time too, as Robin Hood has just started shooting in the UK.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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Robin Hood Has Its King And Queen

Rob Keyes — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:23:56 +0000

Universal has made an official press release regarding some new casting choices for their upcoming Russell Crowe Robin Hood project.

It was just two weeks ago when we found out that Scott Grimes, Kevin Durand and Allan Doyle would be playing some of Robin Hood’s Merry Men. In addition to those characters, the roles of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, Sir Godfrey, French Princess Isabella and King John have now also been cast.

I’ve copied just the casting section press release for you to see:

Joining Crowe and Blanchett for the film are Oscar® winner Vanessa Redgrave (Julia, Atonement) as John and Richard’s mother, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine; Mark Strong (Body of Lies, Stardust) as King John’s vicious henchman, Sir Godfrey; Oscar Isaac (Che, Body of Lies) as King John; and Léa Seydoux (13 French Street, upcoming Inglourious Basterds) as the woman who will become queen, French Princess Isabella. Playing key members of Robin’s band of men are Scott Grimes (television’s ER, American Dad) as Welshman Will Scarlet; Kevin Durand (upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 3:10 to Yuma) as Robin’s right-hand, Scotsman Little John; and newcomer Alan Doyle as their troubadour, Irishman Allan Adayle.

And here’s a new synopsis for the movie which is quite bit different than what Ridley Scott had originally promised for this film – an original take which focused on the Sheriff of Nottingham and portrayed him as the hero of the story.

The untitled Robin Hood adventure chronicles the life of an expert archer, previously interested only in self-preservation, from his service in King Richard’s army against the French. Upon Richard’s death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from the corruption of a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation, where he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marian (Blanchett), a woman skeptical of the identity and motivations of this crusader from the forest. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marian and salvage the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct injustices under the sheriff.

As Screen Rant writer Niall Browne pointed out, this Robin Hood story is not as interesting compared to what they original had planned to offer audiences. It’s been done before and the original plan sounded so much better.

As for the casting decisions we’ve seen so far, they’ve given credit to actors who have been making waves in recent times with prominent roles in major mainstream movies. Two of these actors are personal favorites of mine, Canadian actor Kevin Durand and English-born Mark Strong, and I look forward to seeing them in this movie.

Mark Strong will play Sir Godfrey

Although there is some criticism being aimed at the producers of this film for not casting English-born actors for many of these roles, I personally am in favor of these choices. I understand the complaints to a certain extent, but I think they’ve cast great actors for these roles and they might just pull off some nice accents in the end (better than Kevin Costner I’m sure).

What do you think of the cast for the next Robin Hood movie?

Production has begun on the untitled Robin Hood Adventure and the movie is set to release May 14, 2010.

Source: In Contention

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Robin Finds His Hoods

Niall Browne — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:02:30 +0000

While Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood / Nottingham has been in a state of constant flux there has been only one major constant – and that is Russell Crowe as the lead (whatever role that may be).

Now it would appear that casting is well and truly underway with the shoot expected to start next month.

The important Merry Men roles of Will Scarlett, Lttle John and Alan a Dayle have now been filled.

ER and American Dad star Scott Grimes will play Scarlett “skilled swordsman and Hood’s nephew.”

Lost’s Kevin Durand will star as Little John, Robin’s number one man and Great Big Sea singer Allan Doyle will portray Alan a Dayle.

These three cast members will join Crowe as Robin Hood and Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian in the epic retelling of the Robin Hood legend.

Sienna Miller was originally cast as Marian before “scheduling conflicts” led to her leaving the project.

We will have more casting news for you as soon as it’s announced.

Source: Variety

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Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – Feb. 26, 2009

Niall Browne — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:19:51 +0000

This week:

Ferrell and Wahlberg are The B Team; make a date with Harry Potter; Matt Damon makes an Adjustment; Twilight’s Hardwicke decides to Stay and Blanchett hangs in the Hood.

1. Will Ferrell and Mark “Marky Mark” Wahlberg are due to team up in The B Team. No, I’m serious.

According to Variety the film is

“An Adam McKay-directed action comedy that casts Ferrell and Wahlberg as cops, with Chris Henchy writing the script.”

Could be humorous, but it could be dire.

Can Wahlberg do comedy? I’m sure that we’ll find out soon enough.

I’d also expect a title change before the lawyers at Fox get over excited

Source: Variety

2. The final Harry Potter film has a release date:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part II will open on July 15, 2011.

Mark that date in your diary. Man, that’ll be ten years of Harry Potter. Did anyone else think that the franchise would have run out of steam long ago?

Source: Hollywood Reporter

3. Hollywood loves Dick. Phillip K. Dick that is.

Matt Damon is attached to George Nolfi’s adaption of Dick’s The Adjustment Bureau.

Apparently Nolfi will make his directing debut with the film that is due to go into production this summer.

Nolfi previously wrote Damon’s Ocean’s Eleven, while Dick is the mastermind behind some of the greatest Sci-Fi films (and stories) including Blade Runner.

Source: Variety

4. When Catherine Hardwicke departed the Twilight franchise it looked like her relationship with Summit Entertainment had soured. It would appear that the pair are at the…ahem… peak of their creativity. Hardwicke and Summit plan to bring another young-adult novel called If I Stay to the big screen.

According to EW:

“The project centers on 17-year old musician Mia who, after a violent car accident, finds herself watching her damaged body taken from the wreck. She must decide whether or not she has the will to live.”

Sounds like a teenage version of The Lovely Bones.

I’m sure it’ll make a pile of money. None of it will be mine.

Source: EW

5. We mentioned it before, but now Cate Blanchette is in final neogtiations to star in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood / Nottingham opposite Russell Crowe. Not to be confused with Frost / Nixon.

Blanchett would of course play Maid Marian. The budget of the film is in the region of $130 million and it’s due to start shooting (arrows) in April.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

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Nottingham Is Now Robin Hood (And Less Interesting)

Niall Browne — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:27:57 +0000

Hollywood is rarely original, we all know that due to continuous remakes, adaptations of books, TV shows, comics and games. However, once in a while someone surprises us with an original idea or an original take on an old idea.

Nottingham was such a project.

Last year Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe promised a unique take on the Robin Hood legend that would portray the Sheriff of Nottingham as the hero and Robin Hood as the villain. The project was delayed due to some script issues, and then it emerged that Crowe would be playing both Nottingham (the sheriff not the city) and the legendary Robin Hood.

However, now Ridley Scott has announced that the film has undergone major changes and that the film will now simply be called Robin Hood and will follow the career of the titular hero.

Haven’t we been to this well many times before?

Speaking to MTV Scott said:

“I think we are just going to call it Robin Hood. We start in almost 2 months. Robin Hood is in the army of Richard Coeur de Lion. He is a bowman in the army of Richard Coeur de Lion. “

With regards to the idea of having Crowe play Nottingham and Robin Hood Scott said:

“It was an idea so far back, way back when at the time I had this proposed to me, and I read it and thought, ‘I don’t really know what it does for it, but it’s alright.’ It is better to simply have the evolution of a character called Robin Hood, who will come out of a point in the Crusades which is the end.”

Scott goes on to say that the Sheriff will be:

“less important; the Sheriff of Nottingham is always a kind of an amusing character in most of the movies, who represents the hierarchy in the story at that point,” Scott explained. “The hierarchy and the wealthy always ruled over the under class, and fundamentally that doesn’t change, because Robin Hood is actually the person who finally – in terms of the overall classical idea of the film – will help the poor, probably taking from the rich.”

Scott plans to make France the villain of the piece and not just one man:

“It is the French. The villain is much bigger in that sense; much more important, and much more dangerous. “(In)1066 Harold II went against William the Conqueror. Harold took an arrow in his eye, and William the Conqueror took over England, and so France owned everything right through. Even to the extent of changing the architecture of the churches from Anglo-Saxon to Roman, that’s French; they changed the arches in the churches.”

With regards to Russell Crowe being on prime physical condition for the tight wearing role Scott said:

“Oh that is silly; all that stuff is bullsh-t. He is going to be totally fit. That is not a problem at all. And he’s been working on his bow and arrow for about 4 months. He sends me tapes of him hitting targets at about 45 meters. He’s pretty good!”

There you have it straight from the horses mouth.

It would appear that Scott and Crowe would like to produce a historical epic along the lines of Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven rather than a swashbuckling adventure in the mold of the Errol Flynn or Kevin Costner films. However, what irks me about this change is that the filmmakers really had an opportunity to do something new with the Robin Hood myth, but instead they have almost fallen into predictability.

If two years ago I’d said to you that Scott was preparing a revisionist take on Robin Hood this is exactly the sort of film that you would have imagined him to make.

Over the decades there must have been almost a hundred film and television versions of Robin Hood, every generation has their own iconic take on the character and I feel that this version by Ridley Scott will take the fun out of the character and replace the adventure and excitement with po-faced earnestness. While that is not always a bad thing I feel that Scott has decided to make a film that would be easier for him to make in a genre, tone and time frame that won’t stretch his range. While most directors would see a film like this a challenge, Scott has made historical epics his stock in trade over the past decade or so. For him to make something with pace, adventure and wit would be the real challenge!

For that reason alone – I’m annoyed.

Source: MTV

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Movie News Wrap Up: February 8th, 2009

Niall Browne — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:33:29 +0000

Yes, we’re a day late this week – blame it on flakey internet connections – moving on…

This week:

Brad Pitt plays Ball; Mangold looks for thrills; does Nottingham have its Marian? Mickey Rourke attaches himself to St Vincent – with an old friend.

Box Office

Audiences were really into He’s Just Not That Into You. The all-star movie featuring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston and Scarlett Johansson grossed an impressive $27.5 million showing that female powered movies keep making money at the box office.

Liam Nesson’s Taken continues to impress with a slight 18% drop with a gross of $20 million.

Coraline grossed a solid $16 million showing that stop motion animation isn’t dead. The really good news is that The Pink Panther 2 crashed and burned managing a poor $12 million weekend. Considering that the first movie made $10 million more on its debut – it looks like we may have seen the last of Steve Martin in a trench coat.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop showed incredible legs arresting another $11 million for a $97 million total. It looks like the makers of Push will be kissing franchise hopes goodbye following a pretty low $10 million gross. DVD and foreign money is the films only hope.

Slumdog Millionaire continues to do well with more awards at the BAFTA’s and a gross of $77 million it looks like this little film is a success on all levels.

Movie News

1. Brad Pitt will re-team with his Ocean’s director Steven Soderbergh for Moneyball. The film which is based on the book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game followsi:

“Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics who used a sophisticated computer analysis system to piece together a team that regularly contended for the World Series despite a payroll dramatically lower than such big-market rivals as the New York Yankees.”

The film will replace Cleo as Soderbergh’s next film following Hugh Jackman’s drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Cleo will now shoot next year.

Source: Variety

2. James Mangold is attached to direct an untitled thriller for Bold Films.

According to Variety:

“The script, which is being penned by Sasha Jenson and Casey La Scala is based on the true story of a pair of New Orleans lawyer brothers who took on a multinational oil company and its heavyweight legal teams to rep the rights of the families of an oil rig that sank in a typhoon. “

It all sounds a bit generic.

Source: Variety

3. It looks like Cate Blanchett will be romanced by Russell Crowe in Nottingham. Mark Strong, who signed up to play Sir Guy of Gisbourne told The Telegraph:

“I think Cate Blanchett is set to take the Maid Marian part. She is a wonderful actress and it would make it a much classier film if she was in it.”

Take that Sienna Miller!

Seems like a done deal.

Source: Telegraph

4. Mickey Rourke just gets busier and busier. The comeback kid who just nabbed a BAFTA will rejoining his Johnny Handsome director Walter Hill for St. Vincent. According to Variety:

“St. Vincent, scripted by Cameron Young, centers on a hit man returning to his former New York City neighborhood to finish off the botched killing of an informant. He’s then forced to masquerade as a priest and finds himself taking the confessions of his target.”

Hill used to be a director to watch and Rourke is on a comeback trail that seems to be very long – with Iron Man 2 (something he said he was doing last night at the BAFTA’s) and a script that he’s been working on for 18 years on the horizon along with Stallone’s The Expendables it can be said that Rourke is truly back.

Source: Variety

That’s it for now. See you at the movies!

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Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – Feb. 05, 2009

Niall Browne — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:51:58 +0000

It’s time for another Mid Week Movie News Wrap Up.

This week:

John Carpenter chooses yet another project; Clooney and Sorkin like a good Challenge; Bill Murray decides to Get Low; Bloom and Kurylenko get Cross and Nottingham wants an accountant.

1. It looks like John Carpenter just can’t make his mind up! First it appeared that L.A Gothic would be the follow-up to Ghosts of Mars, and then it looked like Scared Straight (or Riot as it was renamed) starring Nicolas Cage would be his next film. Wrong on both counts.

It now looks like The Master of Horror’s next film will be The Ward with Amber Heard.

According to Variety:

“Heard will star as a haunted woman in a mental institution.”

Sounds like anything could happen – but I’ll believe this to be Carpenter’s next movie when I see the first still. I presume Carpenter has become tired of receiving checks for remakes of his old movies. Recently Carpenter classics like The Fog, Assault on Precinct 13 and Halloween have received the make over treatment. Halloween 2 and a reboot of The Thing are on the way.

Source: Variety

2. George Clooney continues to ratchet up polarizing prestige pictures after signing on to produce and possibly direct as well as star in Aaron Sorkin’s The Challenge.

According to Variety:

“Clooney … hopes to play Navy lawyer Charles Swift in the drama about the effort by Swift and Georgetown U. law professor Neal Katyal to ensure a fair trial for Osama bin Laden’s driver, Salim Hamdan, who’d been held at Guantanamo Bay for five years.”

Warner Bros. and Clooney’s Smokehouse Productions are behind the project.

Sorkin has been behind such political fare as A Few Good Men, The American President, Charlie Wilson’s War as well as television’s The West Wing and Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip.

Source: Variety

3. Bill Murray, Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek Lucas Black will star in “period dramatic thriller” Get Low. The film is “based on the true story of Felix “Bush” Breazeale, a Tennessee recluse who planned his own funeral in 1938 while he was still alive and could enjoy it.”

Sounds intriguing, and Murray and Duvall are always good value.

Bill – when is Ghostbusters 3 coming?

Source: Variety

4. Orlando Bloom, Vincent Cassel and Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) will star in Andrew Niccol’s $24 million Sci-Fi film The Cross.

According to Variety:

“Bloom plays a man seeking to cross a mysterious border, something no one else has achieved; Cassel limns the guard who will go to any lengths to foil him. Kurylenko takes the femme lead”

If only Bloom could act!

Source: Variety

5. It looks like Ridley Scott’s Nottingham is gearing up for production.

According to Guardian Jobs:

“Construction Accountant needed for large US studio film. Position requires previous experience as Construction Accountant for a US major studio. Applicant will be responsible for set estimating and processing of all payroll, petty cash, purchase orders and accounts payable for the construction department. Position is based from Shepperton Studios. Start date is immediate.”

Shepperton is of course co-owned by Scott and the company looking for the accountant is Nottingham Productions.

To make it even more obvious the interested parties must email Castro at Merrymenfilms@hotmail.com

It looks like the production problems have been solved and an actress has been found to replace Sienna Miller who left/ was fired from the role of Maid Marian.

Source: The Guardian

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: January 11, 2009

Niall Browne — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:54:23 +0000

In this Weeks Weekend Movie News Wrap Up::

Clint Eastwood drives to the top of the box office with Gran Torino; Ewan McGregor is Pierce Brosnan’s Ghost; Sienna Miller will not be visiting Nottingham; Morricone is not a Basterd; Moore, Neeson and Seyfried know Chloe; the Joker may have the last laugh in Batman 3 and Farrell, Weir and Harris are on their Way Back.

Box Office

Clint Eastwood showed his star power by capturing the number one position at the box office with a fantastic $30 million gross for Gran Torino. Clint’s Oscar touted movie was making good bank on limited release but it looks like the American masses love the ageing action icon. The film should have good legs and a final gross of $100 million is not out of the question.

Bride Wars should claim the runner-up position with about $20 million showing that women will watch Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson in just about anything. David Goyer’s The Unborn had a good start and should gross about $18 million. Okay David – you have Monday to celebrate and then it’s down to getting Chris Nolan to start writing the next Batman movie.

Not Easily Broken surprised many and should bank $6 million by Monday, which isn’t bad for a movie that’s only showing in 724 screens. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Bedtime Stories inch closer to the magic $100 million mark and Tom Cruise shows that he’s a bigger star than Will Smith as Valkyrie has out grossed Seven Pounds.

Movie News

1. We thought that The Ghost was going to be a Pierce Brosnan and Nicolas Cage team-up, but it looks like Cage has dropped out and Ewan McGregor has stepped in as the ghostwriter for the former British Prime Minister in the Roman Polanski helmed thriller.

Source: Pierce Brosnan

2. There’s more trouble in Nottingham as it appears that Sienna Miller has dropped out of the next Russell Crowe, Ridley Scott team-up. Miller was due to star as Maid Marrian in the re-imagining of the popular legend. The film has had numerous delays because of weather, script troubles and reported fights between Crowe and Scott.

There’s no official reason as to why Miller made (maid?) the descision but if you believe the unreliable Page Six then it’s because of Crowe’s vanity:

“Originally the movie was about a love triangle between Maid Marian, Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. It is now all about Russell’s Robin Hood. Literally, 40 pages of script were redone and now are just devoted to him and his massive ego. It’s amazing.”

Sounds to me like it’s all a lot of Crowe bashing, but I’m sure we will find out more in the near future.

Source:IMDB

3. It was previously reported that master soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone would be scoring the music for Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, however he will now be composing Giuseppe Tornatore’s Baaria instead.

It could be worse, he could have gone on to score Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables.

Source: Playlist

4. Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried will star in director Atom Egoyan’s Chloe.

Accpording to Variety:

“Moore will play a successful doctor who suspects her husband (Neeson) of cheating. She tests his fidelity by hiring an escort (Seyfried) to seduce him. The move creates complications that put her family in danger.”

It sounds very 1990’s and that’s not a bad thing!

Neeson will next be seen in Taken while Seyfried was in the smash hit Mama Mia – yikes!

Source: Variety

5. The Dark Knight producer Charles Roven spoke with MTV about the follow-up to the mega grossing film. The producer (although coy) did indicate that The Clown Prince of Crime may appear in future instalments of the Bat-franchise. Roven said:

“We have to separate the actors from the role. On a personal level, Heath (Ledger) was a friend of mine. We had worked together before The Dark Knight, but I still think that The Dark Knight is its own thing, and we have to separate them.”

If they decide to recast I think Joaquin Phoenix woul be a good choice – it’s a shame that he has “retired.”

Source: MTV

6. Colin Farrell and Ed Harris will star in Peter Weir’s The Way Back alongside Jim Sturgess and Saoirse Ronan. According to Variety:

“The thesps are in final negotiations to star for Weir in the fact-based story of a group of soldiers who engineered a grueling escape from a Siberian gulag in 1942. Weir wrote the script, based on the memoir by Slavomir Rawicz. Farrell plays a tough, tattooed Russian; Harris an American; and Sturgess portrays a young Polish inmate. Ronan will play a Russian on the run who meets up with the fugitives.”

Sounds interesting, Weir is always one to watch and both Harris and Farrell are talented actors – could be one to watch next awards season. Although, I don’t know if I could buy the Irish Farrell as a Russian.

Source: Variety

That’s it for now. See you at the movies!

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Studios Ramp Up Production Prior To SAG Strike

Kofi Outlaw — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:30:48 +0000

As it stands, Hollywood studios are deadlocked in their contract negotiations with the Screen Actors Guild. That news stirs up foul memories of a year ago, when the Writers Guild of America was at a similar juncture with the studios… Soon after that there were no TV shows for about half a year.

And we all know what that did last year’s TV season.

In anticipation of the worst (which has ironically become the norm in these days and times), studios are turning to the pre-strike protocols they devised after the 2007 WGA strike, pushing as many films as they can into production so that the 2010-2011 movie roster doesn’t end up barren.

Check out the studio by studio list of the films that are either currently in production, or are headed into production in light of the looming strike.

The list of movies being fast-tracked are as follows:

COLUMBIA

Ruben Fleischer-directed “Zombieland”
Phillip Noyce-helmed “Edwin A. Salt” with Angelina Jolie
Stephen Chow-directed “The Green Hornet” with Seth Rogen

DISNEY

Tim Burton-directed “Alice in Wonderland”;
“Tron” sequel;
Robert Zemeckis-produced motion-capture film “Mars Needs Moms”;
Jon Turteltaub-directed “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” with Nicolas Cage;
Walt Becker- helmed “Wild Hogs 2″

FOX

James Cameron-directed “Avatar”
Shawn Levy-helmed “Date Night,” with Steve Carell and Tina Fey
“A-Team”
“Ramona”
Chris Columbus-directed “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief”
“Diary of a Wimpy Kid”
John Carney-directed “Town House”
“Alvin and the Chipmunks 2″
Tom Bezucha-directed “Orbit”
Rick Famuyiwa-helmed “Family Wedding”

MGM

Drew Goddard-directed “The Cabin in the Woods”
Kevin Tancharoen-helmed “Fame”
“The Matarese Circle,” which David Cronenberg is negotiating to direct Washington
Darren Aronofsky-helmed “RoboCop”

MARVEL
(Paramount distributing)

Jon Favreau-directed “Iron Man 2″ with Robert Downey Jr.
Kenneth Branagh-helmed “Thor”

MIRAMAX

John Madden-directed “The Debt” with Helen Mirren
“Man on a Train”
“Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark”

NEW LINE

“Torrente”
“Sex and the City 2″
Wesley Strick-directed “A Nightmare on Elm Street”
Len Wiseman-helmed “Gears of War”

PARAMOUNT

Kenny Ortega-directed “Footloose” with Zac Efron;
M. Night Shyamalan-helmed “The Last Airbender”
“Morning Glory”
“Beverly Hills Cop”
“Us and Them”

UNIVERSAL

Edgar Wright-directed “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” starring Michael Cera
Untitled Nancy Meyers-helmed comedy with Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin
Peter Billingsley-directed “Couples Retreat” with Vince Vaughn;
Gore Verbinski-helmed “BioShock”
Nicholas Stoller-directed “Get Him to the Greek”
Ridley Scott-helmed “Nottingham” with Russell Crowe

WARNER BROS.

Clint Eastwood-directed “Human Factor” with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon
Mark Neveldine/Brian Taylor- helmed “Jonah Hex”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the David Yates-directed final, two-part installment in the franchise, which begins production in February;
Alcon-financed “Book of Eli,” the Hughes brothers-directed Denzel Washington starrer
Louis Leterrier-helmed “Clash of the Titans”
Zack Snyder-directed “Suckerpunch.”

Not to worry, Summer movie enthusiasts: just about all of your big budget sequels (Transformers 2, Night at the Museum 2, Angels & Demons) are safely in production. Doomsday epic 2012 is also going to make the cut. Any other new films that studios hope to get off the ground, however, are going to face major problems without actors to act in them. But we’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it. For now, negotiations continue.

Personally I’m glad Iron Man 2, Thor, Green Hornet and Avatar made the cut; I’m hoping that Bioshock and Gears of War will be worthy of their excellent video game sources–and I’m praying that Jonah Hex is going to turn out well. Hex was badass on that Batman: The Animated Series episode.

How about you? Any movies you’re glad are in the pipeline? Any films you wish they’d kept on the shelf?

(Thank Variety for putting the list together.)

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Nottingham: Not To Say We Told You So, But…

Niall Browne — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 22:13:28 +0000

If you take a look over at MTV news you can see “breaking news” that Russell Crowe will be playing The Sheriff of Nottingham and Robin Hood in Ridley Scott’s forthcoming Nottingham. However, if you are a regular Screen Rant reader you would have known this two months ago!

Yes, we brought you the news in July as the reason for the delay in the epic film, but now Scott has officially announced it at a press conference for Body of Lies.

Meanwhile Crowe has said:

“It’s one of those things where we’re taking our time with. You don’t want to be doing Robin Hood unless you’re going to be doing it really f*cking well. It’s got to be the best one ever done otherwise you should do something else.”

It is a fair point, but it doesn’t clear up how he will be playing both characters. Are they supposed to be the same person or is Crowe playing two roles?

Scott had this to say:

“It’s a good old clever adjustment of characters. One becomes the other. It changes.”

I’m still without a clue, but time will tell.

Sources: MTV and Comingsoon

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