Robin Hood is set to make a surprising return to the big-screen. However, it won’t just be a fleeting visit because Sony is currently negotiating a seven-figure deal to make a series of films that revolve around the legendary icon and his merry posse.
This potential franchise, which is so far entitled, Hood, has been scribed by Cory Goodman and Jeremy Lott, while Michael De Luca brought it to the attention of Sony and will oversee its production for them. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the figure that the pair have been paid for their work is $1 million against $2 million, however producers still haven’t finished working out how much they’ll receive.
It’s believed that Sony was seduced by two certain words in their pitch, as Goodman and Lott are alleged to have insisted that they plan to base their adaptation on the "Avengers," and that they will build a "universe" to explore the characters involved. Goodman and Lott will scribe a number of films, each of which will revolve around the world’s most infamous archer and his posse of do-gooders who are collectively known as his Merry Men, and includes the likes of Little John, Friar Tuck, and Will Scarlett. It’s also been alleged the tone of the film will be Mission Impossible meets the recent Fast & Furious movies.
Convinced? Neither am I. The last Robin Hood film came with the collective talents of Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett involved, and even though it grossed the adequate sum of $320 million it will always mostly be remembered for Crowe’s eclectic accent that seemed to incorporate a number of different regions.
Of course Sony won’t want to try and replicate the tone and substance of Kevin Costner’s 1991 adventure, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, which is widely regarded as an over-long, bastardization of the Robin Hood mythology. But that film’s success proves that there has been an appetite for the character in the past, and the studio will be banking on that audience returning. But as it was almost 25 years ago that’s clearly not going to happen, and I’m just not convinced that potential viewers are that connected with Robin Hood and his Merry Men anymore. Maybe a solo movie could perform admirably, but I severely doubt that they’ll be interested in learning about Friar Tuck in any more detail. Basically he’s a priest who loves a tipple and is a lovable buffoon. That’s it.
However there must have been something in Goodman and Lott’s script that convinced Sony of their ambition. I’d be excited to see another origin to the character and I’ll decide from there if the world is worth exploring further. As long as Bryan Adams hasn’t written the theme song that is. Goldman and Lott were the pair behind Lore, which has been set-up at Warner Bros. and currently has Dwayne Johnson attached to star. In the past Goodman has also written the likes of Priest and The Last Witch Hunter, the latter of which was on the Black List and currently has Vin Diesel attached to star, while he’s also in charge of the upcoming reboot to the Underworld franchise. Lott has recently written the supernatural, mystery, The Falling, which has peaked Zac Efron’s interest.
