John Wick has “inspired” new Robin Hood, says producer

The legend of Robin Hood is one of those properties that could do with a good shot in the arm in the same way that Batman was given one back in 2005. Different material for sure, but the legend of the Nottingham crusader is one that would certainly still find an audience. Now it seems a new version is on the way and its sounds like the character will get a drastic update.

Speaking to Collider, Robin Hood: Origins producer Basil Iwaynk (Sicario) said that the film will see Robin dealing with some more personal issues than before and that it will have a “very contemporary” feel:

“….it’s a kid going off to war thinking he’s going on a great Crusade, and realizing it’s all bullshit and coming back with some PTSD and realizing he’s been lied to, and coming back to kind of a fractured society that doesn’t really accept him and realizing, ‘Okay the super rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer.’ You could describe that now… What Joby Harold, our writer, was able to do is make it feel very allegorical and very contemporary, and feel youthful but not youthful in a YA way, youthful in a kind of, the anger, the energy, what people when they were 25 feel, without it being pandering like ‘Look, we’re the young version of the movie!’”

Indeed Iwaynk also made mention of one of the other films under his name, John Wick, and stated that those two films will have a simialr influence on the tone of the film in terms of the action and stunt work, saying:

“…the stunt work that we’re doing — a lot of it was inspired by the ‘John Wick’ stunt work. The stuff we’re doing with the bow and arrow, it’s the same thing that Keanu [Reeves] does with the gun. The costumes, it just feels different than any other Robin Hood we had,”

The new film is being directed by Otto Bathurst (Peaky Blinders) and will star Taron Egerton (Eddie the Eagle) in the title role alongside Jamie Foxx (Little John), Ben Mendelsohn (The Sheriff of Nottingham), Eve Hewson (Maid Marian) and Jamie Dornan (Will Scarlet), although the latter is still to be official confirmed.

Robin Hood: Origins opens on March 23, 2018.