First look: New Robin Hood on point with 'Gladiator'


Sporting a Caesar haircut and slimmed-down physique, Crowe shed the weight he gained for his portly characters in State of Play and Body of Lies. He also updated the bandit's wardrobe.

"He doesn't have the old Robin Hood tights," says producer Brian Grazer. "He's got armor. He's very medieval. He looks, if anything, more like he did in Gladiator than anything we're used to seeing with Robin Hood."


And though it won't be easy replicating the box office or Oscar success of the 2000 film —Gladiator raked in $458 million worldwide and won five Academy Awards, including best picture — Grazer says Robin Hood's story was ripe for revisiting.

"Oddly, it's a metaphor for today," Grazer says. "He's trying to create equality in a world where there are a lot of injustices. He's a crusader for the people, trying to reclaim some of the ill-gotten gains of the wealthy. That's a universal theme."

Not that the film will linger on the contemporary. "We just shot a scene where Maid Marion fires a flaming bow and arrow into the night sky. It's just a cool story."