Every Robin Hood Movie Currently Being Made

This past week, our Netflix movie of the week was Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves from 1991. While we had some differing opinions about the quality of the film itself, one thing that’s stuck with me is how much it’s a product of its time.

Robin Hood, it seems, is a story that gets adapted again and again throughout the years, often molding itself to the filmmaking and storytelling styles that are popular at the time. For example, the most recent Robin Hood movie was the Russell Crowe movie Robin Hood from 2010, which was more or less a gritty reboot of the character at a time that gritty reboots are all the rage. But that’s the last time the Robin Hood story has been adapted for theaters. Thinking it might be time for Hollywood to take a look Robin Hood again, I wanted to see if any studios were working on trying again on making a Robin Hood movie.

It turns out that everybody is planning on doing something Robin Hood related. At least seven different “Robin Hood” projects are currently in development at various studios. Now, I’m not saying that we’re about to get an onslaught of Robin Hoods over the next few years. More likely than not, the bulk of these projects will fall by the wayside, and never make it into theaters, but right now, we’re looking at over half a dozen possible interpretations of the Robin Hood Story.

Robin Hood:Origins

This one is the one we’re most likely to actually see as it’s the one with the most forward momentum in the past year or so. A director has been hired (Otto Bathurst) and some of the cast is already coming together (Jamie Foxx has been selected to play Little John) and the studio has a planned release date of March 23, 2018. This movie has been described as a “gritty reinvention” of the character. (It looks like gritty reboots are still a popular thing in Hollywood) While, I’m always happy to see another Robin Hood movie, I have to wonder what this movie has that makes it think it will succeed where Robin Hood (2010) failed. Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood was clearly supposed to be the first film in a big budget series that never happened thanks to subpar reviews and a less than stellar box office return. Some reports have even said that the title Robin Hood: Origins has been shortened to the more generic Robin Hood, something that the 2010 did with its original title Nottingham. I’m not going to say that it’s impossible to do a serious, gritty reboot of the character well, but his friends were called the Merry Men, for a reason.

Hood

If gritty reboots are one of the biggest things in Hollywood right now, the only thing bigger is perhaps the idea of a shared universe. Ever since Marvel had huge success with their Avengers franchise (and continues to have unparalleled success) every studio has been scrambling to put together a shared cinematic universe of their own. Sony seems to think that Robin Hood is the right franchise for this and is developing a movie titled Hood, the first standalone film in a series that will include a Friar Tuck film, a Little John film, and a Will Scarlett film before they all come together, Avengers style. Again, I sure hope this works out for them, but I don’t know how many people are clamoring for Robin Hood movies that don’t involve Robin Hood, and I’m not sure that enough people know who Will Scarlett is, to be aware of his connection to Robin Hood.

Marian

The most recent Robin Hood movie announcement is for another Robin Hood story where Robin isn’t even there. This movie was announced earlier this week, and is set after Robin Hood is killed. In this version Maid Marian will pick up the mantle of Robin Hood and continue his fight. Margot Robbie is currently attached to play Maid Marian and her star power has risen enough in Hollywood recently, that her involvement might push this movie forward quickly.

Robin Hood 2058

This movie was first announced in 2011 and seemed to have stalled out, but early last year reports surfaced that the project was once again moving forward. The plot of this movie is about a “rogue MI5 agent” who goes on a mission to right the wrongs and end the injustice that he sees in this world. It’s not clear if this movie is just drawing from the “rob the rich to feed the poor” ideals of Robin Hood, or if it’s a more beat by beat retelling of the legend set in a modern (slightly futuristic) setting. But it does have Robin Hood in the title, so it’s going on the list.

Nottingham & Hood

Another popular trend in Hollywood right now is for Disney to produced live action remakes of their animated classics. While a live action “fox themed” Robin Hood hasn’t been announced yet, Disney does have a Robin Hood project in the works right now. Nottingham & Hood was described as “in the vein of Pirates of the Caribbean” which makes sense considering that’s Disney’s most successful action/adventure franchise to date.

Merry Men

A Robin Hood heist movie makes sense. After all, he’s best known for being a thief, and stealing things is what he does all the time. So it makes sense that Dreamworks bought this pitch for a Robin Hood movie that was described as “tonally reminiscent of The Dirty Dozen and Ocean’s Eleven.” The movie is still technically in active development, however this movie was last talked about in 2013, and while a screenwriter and director were hired, the planned filming dates never emerged, and it’s not clear if the screenplay was ever actually written or not.

And One More Just For Good Measure

I’ve got basically nothing for this, but at one point it was announced that Warner Bros. had bought a Robin Hood project from writer Will Beall (Aquaman). Nothing else has been said about the project and it’s not even the only Robin Hood project Warner Bros. has in development right now (see Robin Hood 2058 above) but since it’s technically a different project than all the other ones listed, I’m putting it on the list for completionists sake. Just don’t hold your breath on seeing this one any time soon.