'Nottingham' is Now 'Robin Hood'

The mystery of Ridley Scott's Nottingham is now over. Scott announced that his "revisionist" take on the Robin Hood legend has been scrapped, right down to the title, and will now have Russell Crowe in the role of the titular archer. Why mess with hundreds of years of legend, after all?

"[Robin Hood] is a bowman in the army of Richard Coeur de Lion. [Crowe as both Robin and the Sheriff of Nottingham] 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'," Scott told MTV News. "It is 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."

However, there is a slight shift in who the villain will be. While the Sheriff of Nottingham will play a part, Scott is returning Robin Hood to his cultural roots as an Anglo-Saxon pitted against villainous Norman invaders. "It is from France. It is the French. The villain is much bigger in that sense; much more important, and much more dangerous."

Filming begins in two months, and while Scott didn't confirm Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian, he dismissed the persistent rumors that Crowe's physical fitness was a problem. "Oh that is silly. All that stuff is bullsh-t. He is going to be totally fit. That is not a problem at all. And he's been working on his bow and arrow for about 4 months. He sends me tapes of him hitting targets at about 45 meters. He's pretty good!"

As a medievalist at heart, I'm rather excited to see a traditional version that can erase all memory of a certain prince of thieves -- and Crowe and Scott are at their best when they go quasi-historical. Can't wait.