Universal has released another trailer for Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, and it’s probably the best one so far. We start by seeing Robin Hood as a kid who witnesses his father being murdered by the powers that be, and from this an outlaw is born. One with a dodgy Yorkshire accent. Anyhow, there’s lots of action, arrows being fired in all directions, and a great big epic battle on a beach. It looks like Gladiator 2.0 will be rather good.

Oscar winner Russell Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by generations as “Robin Hood,” whose exploits have endured in popular mythology and ignited the imagination of those who share his spirit of adventure and righteousness. In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol of freedom for his people.

Robin Hood stars Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong and will be released on May 14th. Mark said date in the nearest tree stump.

/Film got their hands on a new poster for Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood. We’ve been getting quite a lot of promotional material recently, with the release of two trailers and now a poster. From what I’ve seen I’m quite looking forward to this.

Oscar winner Russell Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by generations as “Robin Hood,” whose exploits have endured in popular mythology and ignited the imagination of those who share his spirit of adventure and righteousness. In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol of freedom for his people.

We got our first trailer for Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood last week and it was cool, but I was slightly underwhelmed. I have no doubt the film will be good, I just not a fan of historical films using rock-type music in trailers.

Today Yahoo! released a new international trailer and it’s miles better than the first trailer. We get a lot more information on the story, more Cate Blanchett and more dialogue. We also have music that suits the footage.

Oscar winner Russell Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by generations as “Robin Hood,” whose exploits have endured in popular mythology and ignited the imagination of those who share his spirit of adventure and righteousness. In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol of freedom for his people.

Our very first look at moving footage from Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood has appeared online in the form of a trailer. It’s a bit different to what I expected but it looks interesting. It starts off mysterious with a dark forest and wolves, but then Russell Crowse rises from the water screaming and that then all the action kicks in. I’m liking how Ridley Scott has filmed the close-up/slo-mo arrows firing.

Oscar winner Russell Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by generations as “Robin Hood,” whose exploits have endured in popular mythology and ignited the imagination of those who share his spirit of adventure and righteousness. In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol of freedom for his people.

Just yesterday we heard that casting was under-way for The Hobbit films in London and Los Angeles, and now Peter Jackson has revealed a bit more information on which characters from the original Lord of the Rings trilogy will be returning. When he was asked this question in the past he wasn’t sure as the script wasn’t completed, however now the script for the first film is done so they have a better idea of which characters will be needed.

From MTV:

“Gandalf, being a 2,000-year-old wizard, is still around and plays a major role in ‘The Hobbit,’ and we’re having Ian McKellen reprise,” explained the filmmaker, who is executive-producing the flick and writing the screenplay. “There’s a couple of other characters: Elrond, who was played by Hugo Weaving [in the original films], and there’s a possibility of Galadriel, who was played by Cate Blanchett.”

“They are elves, so once again, in the realm of Middle-earth, they’re immortal, they don’t age,” he said of Galadriel and Elrond, the only returning “LOTR” main roles besides Gandalf in his script. “We have a process that would start with showing them the script. We’re not [beginning] any official process until we have the ‘official’ script that they can read.”

“In some respects, it’s a prequel,” Jackson said of the flick, which he plans to begin filming in mid-2010. “In book terms, the world of ‘The Hobbit’ takes place 60 years before ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ as it was written by Tolkien. So, not a lot of the characters actually feature, because they weren’t around yet.”

In past interviews Blanchett said that while she didn’t have a large role in the films she did enjoy the role and would return if asked. If thinks work out we could very well see Galadriel back on the big screen.

A few weeks ago Entertainment Tonight took us behind the scenes of Iron Man 2, and now we have the pleasure of seeing footage from their set visit to Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood movie. As ET are all about ’showbiz’ we see the presenter asking Cate Blanchett how many kissing scenes she has with Russell Crowe, but in-between all the rubbish we get to see a few shots of action, and a look at an epic battle on a beach.

While Universal haven’t given the film an official title yet, they have released the synopsis which can be read below:

From Collider:

Oscar winner Russell Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by generations as “Robin Hood,” whose exploits have endured in popular mythology and ignited the imagination of those who share his spirit of adventure and righteousness. In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol of freedom for his people.

The untitled Robin Hood adventure chronicles the life of an expert archer, previously interested only in self-preservation, from his service in King Richard’s army against the French. Upon Richard’s death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from the corruption of a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation, where he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marion (Oscar winner Cate Blanchett), a woman skeptical of the identity and motivations of this crusader from the forest. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marion and salvage the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct injustices under the sheriff.

With their country weakened from decades of war, embattled from the ineffective rule of the new king and vulnerable to insurgencies from within and threats from afar, Robin and his men heed a call to ever greater adventure. This unlikeliest of heroes and his allies set off to protect their country from slipping into bloody civil war and return glory to England once more.

Once upon a time Sienna Miller was cast as Maid Marian in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood (then called Nottingham). We then got news that she was no longer playing the role, and the media and gossip people reported that she was fired because she was ’so young and gorgeous’ where as Russell Crowe was ’so old and fat’. That wasn’t exactly true (as expected) but according to Miller, age was a factor in her not appearing in the movie.

From Contact Music:

“The script has been evolving and changing and it often happens in films. They’ve been trying to make this for a couple of years and they rewrote the script and they needed someone who was older.”

“There’s a husband who has been away at war for 10 years and he comes back, so it’s just not feasible for me to play her. Cate Blanchett is doing it.” Miller insists there have been many other cast changes – but the media refuses to focus on them.

She adds, “The media doesn’t have to make quite as much a meal of it as they do when it happens to me. I’m sure it will be a wonderful project but this is not an absolutely shocking thing to happen in the movie industry when scripts evolve and casts change.

“Other people have changed in that cast, but the media just won’t document it. I would obviously love to work with Ridley and still I hope to in the future.”

Putting age aside, Cate Blanchett is a better actress and is better suited for the role. However, I am still a fan of Sienna. The gossips and tabloids have presented an image of her over the years and it overshadows her work, which is sometimes quite good.

Universal have announced the cast for Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood (they still need to decide on a final title). We already knew of Russell Crowe as Robin Hood, Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian and Mark Strong as King John’s henchman. Joining them will be:

Vanessa Redgrave as John and Richard’s mother, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
Oscar Isaac as King John
Léa Seydoux as the woman who will become queen, French Princess Isabella
Scott Grimes as Welshman Will Scarlet
Kevin Durand as Robin’s right-hand, Scotsman Little John
Alan Doyle as their troubadour, Irishman Allan Adayle

We also have a synopsis. From In Contention:

Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by generations as Robin Hood, whose exploits have endured in popular mythology and ignited the imagination of those who share his spirit of adventure and righteousness. In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol of freedom for his people.

The untitled Robin Hood adventure chronicles the life of an expert archer, previously interested only in self-preservation, from his service in King Richard’s army against the French. Upon Richard’s death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from the corruption of a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation, where he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marion (Blanchett), a woman skeptical of the identity and motivations of this crusader from the forest. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marion and salvage the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct injustices under the sheriff.

With their country weakened from decades of war, embattled from the ineffective rule of the new king and vulnerable to insurgencies from within and threats from afar, Robin and his men heed a call to ever greater adventure. This unlikeliest of heroes and his allies set off to protect their country from slipping into bloody civil war and return glory to England once more.

Two weeks ago actor Mark Strong told The Telegraph that there was a strong possibility that Cate Blanchett would be playing Maid Marian in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood (then called Nottingham). Variety have now confirmed that she will be taking on the role alongside Russell Crowe, and filming should start around April time in the UK.

The film will be shot at a $130 million budget, benefiting from favorable exchange rates and tax credits that come from shooting in the U.K. Scott will be aiming for a PG-13 rating.

Crowe plays Robin of Loxley in an origin story of Robin Hood that hews close to historical facts of the period. Abandoned as a child, he finds community with the common people of Nottingham. Robin’s abandonment and trust issues hamper his ability to fall in love. He meets his match in Marian, a strong, independent woman.

Since Sienna Miller bowed out of playing Maid Marian in Ridley Scott’s Nottingham I have been curious to see which actress would replace her. From the casting of Miller I got the impression they were looking for someone similar, such as Keira Knightly or Gemma Arterton, however it appears they have gone for an older, more established actress. Mark Strong who will play Sir Guy of Gisbourne spoke to The Telegraph and revealed who may be playing Russell Crowe’s love interest in the film.

“I think Cate Blanchett is set to take the Maid Marian part. She is a wonderful actress and it would make it a much classier film if she was in it.”

This casting will only add to the film. While I though there was nothing wrong will Miller in the role, Cate Blanchett seems better suited and to see her act alongside Russell Crowe will be interesting.

Pre-production on the film is currently taking place and filming should begin within the next few months.