Cate Blanchett to join cast of Ridley Scott's Nottingham?

10 February 2009

Gerard Wood

Back in 2007, when we first reported Ridley Scott’s plan to direct a revisionist take on the Robin Hood legend, my gut response was less than positive. And yes, I confess, perhaps a little over the top. I reacted instinctively, despite the fact that there was so much going for this project.

How could anyone not be excited by a movie that has Ridley Scott at the helm, a strong cast that includes Russell Crowe as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Mark Strong as Sir Guy of Gisbourne and, back then at least, Sienna Miller as Maid Marian, all focussing their considerable talents to deliver an original take on legend’s archetypal rebel with a cause? True, Sienna Miller did pull out, but her likely replacement only improves prospects beyond measure: Mark Strong, at the London Film Critics' Circle Awards, revealed this week that “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.” Spot on.

So why the gut reaction? The one thing that undermined the many positives about this project was its premise. In their search for something new to say, writers Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris introduced an ugly, conservative agenda into the story of a rebel who rises up to fight against unjust authority. In their original version of the script, Robin was a less than virtuous thief who had been up to no good; the Sheriff was a noble fellow doing his best to maintain law and order; and, to top if off, there was to be a Mills and Boons-style love triangle with Marian. Here, it seemed, was a Bush-era version of "history", in which anyone who opposes authority is by definition a criminal, a terrorist.

Yes, I know, that was a bit over the top, even for me, though I do stand by the sentiment.

As movie projects go, Nottingham has been plagued by more than its share of problems. Even now it's still in pre-production, although it does look like things might start moving this year. Thankfully it seems that the script was identified as a major hurdle, and Brian Helgeland (Man on Fire, Mystic River) has been brought in to assist with a rewrite. The results sound very promising indeed. Gone is the love triangle, and gone is the Sheriff! That’s right, the Sheriff of Nottingham will play no significant part in this version of Robin Hood.

Well, sort of.

It was announced in September last year that Crowe would play both the Sheriff and Robin Hood. In fact, Crowe is Robin Hood but assumes the identity of the Sheriff when the true Sheriff dies. As you might expect, this led to some confusion when it was announced, and producer Brian Glazer did his best to explain it away: “The two role confusion is that what Robin Hood does is he sees Nottingham in battle very early in the movie and Nottingham dies. And Robin Hood takes over the identity of Nottingham. That's how it plays out." Well, I'm certainly intrigued to learn how Robin manages to pull off this sleight of hand (and entire body for that matter) without someone noticing.

My attitude to this project has changed considerably since 2007, and with news that Cate Blanchett is likely to join the cast, Nottingham has leapt to the top of my list of most anticipated movies. All’n’all I’m delighted that Scott and co. are taking the time to get this right. In his inimitable way, Russell Crowe hit the nail on the head when he explained why things were progressing slowly: “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.”

Couldn’t agree more.

Related Articles

Harrison Ford being cast in new Blade Runner film...
Here's a twist. While we reported that Ridley Scott would no...

Blade Runner sequel and Prometheus update...
Director Ridley Scott is about to return to science fictio...

Ridley Scott directing Blade Runner follow up...
This is amazing news. According to Deadline, Ridley Scott is...

Richard Carpenter's iconic Robin of Sherwood now on Blu-ray...
Over the years we've had cause to mention Richard Carpenter'...

Guy Pearce confirmed for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus...
Australian actor Guy Pearce has joined Ridley Scott’s Alien ...

Blade Runner sequels and prequels happening...
The iconic science fiction film Blade Runner, based on a boo...