Pushed to accommodate Taron Egerton’s involvement in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, it would appear that Otto Bathurst’s shelved Robin Hood: Origins is once again back on track over at Lionsgate, after The Hollywood Reporter revealed today that Fifty Shades stalwart Jamie Dornan is on the verge of landing a key role.
In line to join the likes of Egerton, Jamie Foxx and Eve Hewson for Lionsgate’s trip to the famous Sherwood Forest, THR cautions that negotiations between Dornan and the studio are ongoing, but at least at the time of writing, things are looking positive.
If both parties were to settle on the fine print, the Irishman would become one of Bathurst’s men in tights – specifically Will Scarlett, a member of the Merry Men crew described as the “hot-headed wearer of fine clothes and best swordsman of the bunch.” This is a slightly reworked version of the legendary archer, though, in which Dornan’s Will Scarlett will be married to Maid Marian (Hewson), teeing up a rivalry between Scarlett and Egerton’s outlaw famed for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.
Joby Harold penned the most draft of Robin Hood: Origins, with the overriding tone of the period redo likened to Christopher Nolan’s seminal The Dark Knight for the way it handles the arc of Hood himself.
Robin Hood: Origins is tentatively set to land in late 2017 – or perhaps 2018 – and if it does, it won’t be the only modern redo of an English legend to adorn the big screen next year, given Guy Ritchie’s star-studded King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is pegged for launch on March 24, 2017.