Will The Real Robin Hood Please Stand Up?

Do not wander into Sherwood Forest anytime soon. You may be trapped by Robin Hood…or seven. It seems Hollywood wants to join his band of merry men. However, so far it seems only two will make it to the big screen. Let’s take a look.

First up is Lionsgate’s Robin Hood: Origins, a gritty retelling of the outlaw’s beginnings. Taron Egerton plays Robin of Locksley, who has returned home from The Crusades to find his beloved Sherwood Forest is now a den of corruption. He forms his band of merry outlaws to take back his home.

Joining Egerton is Jaime Doran (Fifty Shades of Grey) as Will Scarlett, Eve Hewson (Bridge of Spies) as Maid Marian, Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained) as Little John, Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One) as The Sheriff of Nottingham, and Tim Minchin (Californication) as Friar Tuck.

The script is by Joby Harold, who also wrote King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and it will be directed by Otto Bathurs (Peaky Blinders, Black Mirror). Leonardo DiCaprio is producing with his Appian Way partner Jennifer Davisson with Safe House’s Harold, Tory Tunnell, and Basil Iwanyk.

Egerton stated the difference between this version of Robin Hood versus the past films saying,

Robin Hood has a reputation for being quite clean and wholesome, aside from Alan Rickman’s amazing performance in the Kevin Costner version, but it’s tights and thigh-slapping and merry men. This is really kind of dark and gritty and very funny too, but it’s a real revisionist version of the story. There’s no singing and riding through the glen in this: it’s a real war movie. Quite an anti-establishment war movie, I would say. And Robin’s not perfect in it, either, which is what I like about it. He’s not a classic hero, he makes mistakes.

Foxx agreed, stating:

Those other Robin Hoods don’t mean s—. Our Robin Hood, it’s on. We’re battling, gonna drop the same day. What’s different about ours? It’s just a grittier take. With Otto [Bathurst] directing, it’s just a grittier take. It’s not like in the Sherwood Forest, tights and all that. It’s not like that. It’s grittier, a more real version, if that makes sense. But no disrespect to anyone else’s Robin Hood.

Filming has begun in Dubrovnik, Croatia and the film is set for a March 23, 2018 release.

The next version of Robin Hood isn’t really about him. It’s about her: Marian. Recently Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad) was cast in the lead role of the Sony film.

Written by a relative unknown Pete Barry (Focus), this “serious and truly gritty” story follows the love interest of Robin after she watches his assassination and decides to pick up where he left of, leading her people to war, deciding the fate of her kingdom.

The script was at the center of a heated bidding war, which Sony won. It will be produced by Donald De Line (The Italian Job) and Amy Pascal (Ghostbusters) with Rock Shaink joining from Romark Entertainment. No director has been confirmed yet.

No official release date has been provide except sometime in 2018 after the Robin Hood: Origins.

Now on to the potential films.

Currently in pre-production is Robin Hood 2058. Originally with Warner Bros., who decided to move forward with another Robin Hood movie, the project is moving forward with Gianni Nunari’s Hollywood Gang Productions (300, Immortals). British writer Tony Lee has placed the Merry Men in a futuristic dystopian London and follows “a rogue MI5 agent on a mission to avenge injustice.” Regardless of the change of time and scenery, Lee has revealed he plans on staying faithful to the original source material. His past work does include a Robin Hood-themed graphic novel for young adults called Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood.

Acclaimed visual effects supervisor Hasraf Dulull (The Dark Knight) has joined to direct and they are planning to start filming sometime this year.

Instead of a dystopian Sherwood Forest, it seems Warner Bros. decided to quietly jump into a Robin Hood project written by Aquaman and Gangster Squad writer Will Beall. Dan Lin (The Lego Movie, Sherlock Holmes) and John Zaozirny (Castle) are producing.

They are keeping details to the project secret; however, when asked if the project will actually go into development, Beall simply states, “I don’t know…but we got a script that I think is really cool and has real potential. I don’t know what the appetite in the marketplace for a Robin Hood movie is. All that s—’s above my pay grade.”

Sony Pictures purchased their Robin Hood story from writers Cory Goodman (The Last Witch Hunter) and Jeremy Lott (Lore) with Adam Goldworld from Aperture executive producing after a heated bidding war with Paramount and Working Title Films.

Described as a having the tone of a high-action Fast & Furious meets Mission: Impossible style, their plan is to create a Marvel-style shared universe. After the first film, they intend to launch the franchise with several different movies that focus on each of Robin Hood’s band of merry men.

It has been rumored that Jerry Bruckheimer has come on to also produce.

To have a little more fun, DreamWorks spent seven figures to acquire not so much the unfinished script from Brad Ingelsby (Out of the Furnace), but more for the idea, called Merry Men. Neal Moritz (Fast Five) will produce with Scott Waugh (Act of Valor) directing.

This version would focus more on Robin Hood’s support group as an ensemble piece. It would be a high-concept revenge story that would be like placing The Dirty Dozen or Ocean’s Eleven into Sherwood Forest.

Since there is no finished product, there is no date for production to start.

Finally, Disney has stepped into the game with their own new version of Robin Hood titled Nottingham & Hood. Little is known about the script written by first time writer, Brandon Barker. However it is said to be a “revisionist” story and thematically similar to Pirates of the Caribbean. Disney is hoping to launch a new adventure franchise with it.

There is no production information on this since it appears Disney has quietly shelved the project.

What do you think about all the possibilities for Robin Hood in the future? Do any of them sound good? Let us know!