Sir Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe’s much-anticipated, yet currently untitled Robin Hood project, has a release date! Huzzah!
Universal Pictures today announced that the blockbuster-to-be, which will see Crowe play Robin Hood and possibly the Sheriff Of Nottingham as well (it’s not what you think, honest) will come out on May 14, 2010.
May has become, over the last few years, arguably the biggest month on the summer movie calendar, and so putting** Robin Hood**, as the movie is on the verge of being officially titled, means that Universal has high hopes for it.
Certainly, they’ll be hoping that the movie rebottles some of the lightning that struck back in 2000, when the first Crowe/Scott collaboration, Gladiator, opened in May, pulled in over $450 million worldwide, and ended up winning Oscars for Best Picture and Best Actor for Crowe.
Since then, Crowe and Scott have worked together on numerous films, including Body Of Lies, **American Gangster **and A Good Year, but none have had the commercial appeal of this movie.
Of course, the competition is going to be fierce.** Iron Man 2** – now with added Mickey Rourke – kicks off the summer season on May 2. Then **Robin Hood **will have the box office to himself for a week before **Shrek Goes Fourth **lumbers into the fray on May 21, and then Jake Gyllenhaal and his rippling pecs will attempt to smite the opposition with Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time a week after that.
But, if Crowe and Scott can recapture some of that old Gladiator magic, our money’s on Robin Hood in the battle of the swashbucklers. But, just in case, best to get Bryan Adams beavering away on that tie-in song, Sir Ridley. You know, for insurance purposes…
Filming will begin on Robin Hood in the next couple of months.