Despite its Lincoln green – sorry, evergreen – nature as a story that can be told again and again across a variety of movies and TV shows through the years, can even Robin Hood withstand not one, not two but now three different takes on one character in development? We’ll find out, because Lionsgate wants to develop Joby Harold’s script **Robin Hood: Origins.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way company is on board for this one, though there’s no indication that the actor is involved beyond a potential producing role. Little is known about the plot of this one, besides the obvious stealing-from-the-rich-to-give-to-the-poor element, but it will explore Robin’s younger years as a thief with what Deadline has heard is an “edgier” take.
And, as we mentioned, this is hardly the only Hood tale stalking the development forest. Disney has **Nottingham & Hood, which purports to be a revisionist look at the tale with a Pirates Of The Caribbean adventure flare. Then there’s Sony’s baby, simply known as **Hood, promising something that blends The Fast And The Furious and Mission: Impossible. So... tricked-out horses and lots of wooden gadgets?
Taking a look at the early lives of legendary characters is becoming a bit of a speciality for the producer/writer; he’s already busy working with Guy Ritchie on Knights Of The Round Table: King Arthur, which he helped to devise and wrote the initial script. That series hopes to spawn a six-film franchise for Warner Bros. with Guy Ritchie in the director’s chair and Charlie Hunnam wielding Excalibur. It’ll be out here on July 22 next year.