Ridley Scott’s real Robin Hood

Ridley Scott wanted his ‘Robin Hood’ to be more real than other versions of the character.

The blockbuster – starring Russell Crowe as Hood in his fifth collaboration with Scott – is opening today at the Cannes Film Festival, and the 72-year-old filmmaker confesses his story is far removed from the previous instalment starring Kevin Costner.

Scott told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: “The legend, or the myth, or the man, has never really been taken seriously. The tale has been told a bit like a fairy story. I thought it’d be interesting to try to make this guy serious and try to address the possibility that he may have actually existed.”

In an early version of the script, Crowe was set to play both Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham – and the film was to be called ‘Nottingham’, something which Scott was not keen on.

The ‘Gladiator’ director said: “People said it was a cool idea. Frankly, what’s cool about it? No one knows who the f*** Nottingham is. You’re gonna spend millions of dollars explaining why it’s called ‘Nottingham’ and not ‘Robin Hood.’ ”

The final film also stars Cate Blanchett as Lady Marion, and a sequel is already in planning by Scott and Crowe.

Scott is a busy man at the moment – he is currently working on two ‘Alien’ prequels, a film based on the Monopoly game board and a Western with ‘Brokeback Mountain’ screenwriter Larry McMurtry.