Though it’s been on the horizon for some time now, one trend that’s set to explode onto the Hollywood scene over the next two-to-three years is big-budget fantasy reboots.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, for instance, is a Guy Ritchie-directed reboot that’s due to light up theatres mid-way through 2017, while Robin Hood and the lore surrounding Sherwood Forest has proven fertile ground for a number of major studios. And so, with the Fast and Furious-styled Hood incubating at Sony and Disney’s Nottingham & Hood, one Hood-related project that has emerged as an early frontrunner in the race to release is Robin Hood: Origins, the redo headed up by Kingsman breakout Taron Egerton.
Beyond the star-studded cast – Jamie Foxx (Little John), Jamie Dornan (Will Scarlett), and Eve Hewson (Maid Marian) are all attached along with Egerton – little is known about the narrative direction of Origins, but with production now kicking into gear in Hungary, Collider caught up with Taron Egerton ahead of both Robin Hood: Origins and action sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
It was here that the up-and-coming actor offered some insight into Otto Bathurst’s fantasy reboot, describing the embryonic project as a “real revisionist version of the story.”
“It’s a real reimagining; it’s not really very recognizable as Robin Hood. Robin Hood has a reputation for being quite clean and wholesome, aside from Alan Rickman’s amazing performance in the Kevin Costner version, but it’s tights and thigh-slapping and merry men. This is really kind of dark and gritty and very funny too, but it’s a real revisionist version of the story. There’s no singing and riding through the glen in this; it’s a real war movie. Quite an anti-establishment war movie, I would say… It’s dark. And Robin’s not perfect in it, either, which is what I like about it. He’s not a classic hero, he makes mistakes.”
Robin Hood: Origins is being prepped to enter production in January, when the Otto Bathurst-directed reboot will lens for four-and-a-half months in Hungary. March 23, 2018 is the date for your diaries.