The best part of about Robin Hood—other than the rob-from-the-rich-and-give-to-the-poor angle and his roguish charm—is that he’s just as famous as a superhero, but movie studios don’t have to throw a few bucks at Bob Kane’s estate every time they want to make a movie about Robin Hood. They just have to come up with some kind of new and clever take on the character—or at least “new” and “clever.” One such “new” and “clever” take is the one Lionsgate is developing, Robin Hood: Origins, which was written by Joby Harold—the guy behind Guy Ritchie’s upcoming Knights Of The Roundtable movie. Origins will reportedly be about exactly what you think it’ll be about based on the title, so let’s not waste anybody’s time by saying that it’ll focus on Robin Hood as he returns from The Crusades and puts together a band of Merry Men in order to fight corruption.
According to Deadline, Otto Bathurst has been chosen to direct Robin Hood: Origins. Bathurst is best known for directing the British mobster show Peaky Blinders, so hopefully he can introduce some gritty, mobster-style drama into the story of a guy wearing tights who shoots arrows at other guys wearing tights. Deadline implies that Bathurst will have to make some room in his schedule as soon as he can, too, since Lionsgate is probably hoping Origins can beat out the Robin Hood movies that Disney, Warner Bros., and Sony are making. Those other movies won’t have a snappy name like Robin Hood: Origins, though, so we don’t have to worry about getting confused by any of this, at least.