Robin Hood: Origins Adds Jamie Foxx As Little John

Production on Lionsgate’s trip back to Sherwood Forest may have been placed on the back-burner in favor of the upcoming sequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service, though Deadline has brought proof that Robin Hood: Origins is quietly marching forward in development with the casting of Jamie Foxx as Little John, one of the many Merry Men set to rob from the rich and give to the poor in 2017.

Foxx joins a cast that already boasts Taron Egerton in the star role as the titular man in tights along with Eve Hewson as Maid Marian. Indeed, it’s the former’s involvement in Kingsman 2 that has forced the studio’s hand into pumping the brakes on Origins, which will now hop in front of the cameras in late summer.

Behind the lens for the medieval fantasy flick is director Otto Bathurst. Working from a script by Joby Harold, Bathurst’s rendition of the folklore legend has been likened to Christopher Nolan’s seminal The Dark Knight in the way it handles the arc of its titular archer. Returning to the Sherwood Forest he knows and loves only to find it overrun with poverty and corruption, Egerton’s lead will set about righting the wrongs that have caused his home to succumb to ruin.

With Egerton, Hewson and now Foxx locked for Robin Hood: Origins, there’s no question that Otto Bathurst’s feature is emerging as the frontrunner to enter development first ahead of the all-too-similar Nottingham & Hood simmering over at Disney, not to mention Sony’s Fast and Furious-styled Hood.

Now that Kinsgman 2 has taken priority ahead of its own production start in April, Robin Hood: Origins isn’t expected to get the wheels in motion until late summer ahead of an expected bow in 2017.