Ridley Scott Changes 'Nottingham' to 'Robin Hood'

Remember how cool it was that Ridley Scott was remaking the Robin Hood story, coming at it from the perspective of the Sheriff of Nottingham? Well, forget all about it. Scott tells MTV, "I think we are just going to call it Robin Hood," scrapping the original title, Nottingham.

The shift isn't just a name change; Scott reveals that the big plot device - having Russell Crowe potray both Robin Hood and the the Sheriff of Nottingham - has been scrapped. "[It] was an idea so far back, way back when at the time I had this proposed to me, and I read it and thought, ‘I don’t really know what it does for it, but it’s alright’,” he remembers, but says that it serves the film better "to simply have the evolution of a character called Robin Hood, who will come out of a point in the Crusades, which is the end.”

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Cate Blanchett as Crowe's New Maid Marian?

Last month, Sienna Miller was taken out of the cast of the upcoming Nottingham, Ridley Scott's Robin Hood redux starring Russell Crowe. (Dig that lazy near-alliteration...) At the time there was speculation that Crowe wanted Miller droppend from the cast because he was so fat he'd look like a whale against her in love scenes. We doubted then that it was true and if this news holds, then it means Ridley and Russell wanted more substance in the role.

The Telegraph quotes co-star Mark Strong (Body of Lies) as saying that Cate Blanchett might be the new Maid Marian. "She is a wonderful actress and it would make it a much classier film if she was in it," Strong said at the London Film Critics' Circle Awards this week.

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Rumor Patrol: Crowe Not Ruining 'Nottingham'

I'll pay you $27 if all of this turns out to be true, because not only is it an immediately suspect Page Six rumor, but there are also a few "facts" that just don't line up.

The center of the storm is Russell Crowe and Nottingham, a movie I was incredibly excited about a year ago, and I still have some hope that this twist on the Robin Hood story will be solid. The rumor goes that Russell Crowe is making all sorts of demands, insisting that Sienna Miller be dropped from the project, and that the actor is trying to have Ridley Scott fired as director. The Sienna Miller stuff may be true to a point; the New York Post does say they contacted a studio rep who confirmed that much, but denied everything else about the puslished report. Miller would've made a great Maid Marian, I feel, but because of the film's delayed shooting schedule, she might have taken another offer to work immediately. I don't believe - and this is what Page Six says - it's because Russell Crowe is so fat he doesn't want to look like a tub of lard during love scenes, so he's asking that a more proportionate actress be cast instead. Says the Page Six insider, "It is a mess. Russell never lost the weight he put on for Body of Evidence - and so the love scenes between him and Sienna would have been laughable. He's so old and fat and she's so young and gorgeous. It's just . . . gross." We know, of course, that it's actually Body of Lies, and we also know that within a quote, if a journalist or editor catches an honest mistake you can replace those words with [what they meant to say] or [words to that effect]. This is just bad journalism. That's an easy catch.

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Three More Films on the Move: 'Furious,' 'Nottingham,' 'Lovely Bones'

It seems like only a few hours ago that we told you The Wolf Man was officially moved by Universal from April to November 2009. A lot of people think, "Oh, well it must suck," and in a lot of cases, that's true. Studios will move bad movies out of prime positions to put something else in their place or move them against powerhouses and not bother to market them for the same reason.

I think 2009 might be different, and if these moves work out, we might see a lot more of this. It began, for all practical purposes, with Wanted. That was supposed to be a spring 2008 movie, and Universal put it head-to-head against Wall-E instead, and manufactured a big summer hit.Then we saw it happen with Harry Potter. Warner Bros. took the very bold step of moving one of the most profitable movie franchises ever from a cushy November release date (which helped Twilight inestimably) and putting it in July. It's not unprecedented for Potter to play in the summer, but to scrap plans for a big fall release and switch gears to summer had never really been done with a movie of that size. Next on the carousel came The Soloist, a potential Oscar nominee in a few categories, take a pass at 2008 and hope for a better April release. The Road, another one with Oscar capabilities, has been delayed until who knows when. Then The Wolf Man had its release date changed yesterday, and today there are three more movies being shuffled around: Fast and Furious, Nottingham, and The Lovely Bones.

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Brian Grazer Explains, Spoils 'Nottingham'

I thought it was genius to tell the Robin Hood story from another perspective, that Robin Hood actually was the bad guy. That's a great way to change a classic around. And I thought casting Russell Crowe as the Sheriff of Nottingham was another good idea.

Then, after the production was told to stop in the name of love (or greener foliage), we learned that Russell Crowe would or might play both Nottingham and Robin Hood. And that, again, is a stroke of genius.But perhaps we've given Ridley Scott et al too much credit. Brian Grazer, the high-haired Imagine Entertainment honcho tells MTV that there are certain facts we need to know. I must warn you, this is a pretty sizable spoiler, so if you like it fresh, stop reading.

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