Cate Blanchett to join Russell Crowe in Robin Hood

Through its unusually public development process, Ridley Scott’s take on Robin Hood has evolved from an ostensible character experiment for Russell Crowe to, Variety now reports, a reworked version of Gladiator, the movie that first brought Scott and Crowe together nearly a decade ago.

The project, now budgeted at $130 million and set to shoot in April, will also get an upgrade in the female lead, with former star Sienna Miller replaced by Cate Blanchett amid some nasty insider rumors about the earlier match-up. Originally titled Nottingham, the newly history-focused movie will be renamed before release.

This probably also means the movie won’t make its expected Nov. 6 launch date, and news that Universal and Imagine Entertainment have contracted a commerce-friendly PG-13 rating could mean that a prime summer 2010 release is in store.

Related links:
News: Murk surrounding Ridley Scott's Nottingham cleared up
News: Russell Crowe to play Robin Hood/Sheriff for Ridley Scott?
News: Russell Crowe to star in Bill Hicks biopic?

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