'Robin Hood reboot will show a militarized anarchist revolutionary'

The Robin Hood reboot slated for a September 21, 2018 release will present an origin story with Kingsman's Taron Egerton as the legendary outlaw. The film's director Otto Bathurst recently revealed how he plans to present the character to audiences when it comes out next year.

"You don't become a legend for 800 years if you've just stolen a few bags of money from rich people to give to the poor. In my mind, Robin Hood was this sort of seriously militarized anarchist revolutionary, a freedom thinker and a truth seeker. And the more I got into the story, it just became startling how utterly relevant it is to what's going on in society now," the filmmaker says.

Taron Egerton, who plays the titular role in the reboot also shared his opinion on what attracted him to the role saying, "I was approached not long after the first Kingsman movie had come out, and my initial response, to be totally honest, was 'Why?' Otto told me he wanted to do something entirely revisionist, something that can’t be tied down to a medieval universe. The first act of the film, these scenes set in Syria, were written like something from The Hurt Locker. It was fantastic, and that was enough to convince me."

Although Robin Hood's origin has been explored in previous film adaptations, it looks like Bathurst and co. are incorporating elements from the early legends, which depict him as a soldier returning from the Crusades before he went on to become an outlaw.

Jamie Foxx, who portrays Little John, the leader of the outlaw group Merry Men, says he got interested in the film as it breaks away from its medieval tradition. "I wanted to be part of it because it’s hood, not Robin Hood. He’s making it new and interesting, and that gives it weight," says Foxx.

Directed by Otto Bathurst, Robin Hood stars Taron Egerton as Robin Hood, Jamie Foxx as Little John, Ben Mendelsohn as the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Tim Minchin as Friar Tuck, along with Jamie Dornan, Eve Hewson, Ian Peck, and Josh Herdman as the remaining members of the cast.