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Crowe to play Sheriff of Nottingham
This is London2 Feb 2007
Hollywood star Russell Crowe is set to play the Sheriff of Nottingham in a new Robin Hood film. The movie, called Nottingham, will be a "revisionist" take on the age-old story.
In a role reversal, it will portray the Sheriff as the good guy investigating a series of murders in which Robin is the suspect.
Screenwriter Ethan Reiff told industry publication Variety: "He's trying to do the right thing but he's up against Robin Hood, who's becoming heroic while not necessarily acting in the nicest way."
And he told the Hollywood Reporter: "Part of the strength of the script was the simple idea of doing Robin Hood by making the sheriff the good guy."
Nottingham will reunite Crowe with producer Brian Grazer, who worked with him on Cinderella Man and the Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind. It is expected to start filming at the end of the year.
Universal Pictures is said to have won a heated bidding war for the movie. Reiff and writing partner Cyrus Voris previously scripted the TV drama Sleeper Cell.
Hollywood's last telling of the story was Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which was a hit for Kevin Costner in 1991. The BBC1 version starring Jonas Armstrong will return for a second series later this year.
