It looks like trouble is a foot in Sherwood Forest. We learn today that production of Nottingham has been halted until further notice. We get the following scoop from the caves of Yahoo:
Production on “Nottingham,” a revisionist film set to star Russell Crowe as a sympathetic sheriff, has been indefinitely postponed because of script concerns, location logistics and the current labor unrest. Director Ridley Scott’s Universal Pictures project had been aiming for a mid-August start date, one of a handful of high-profile productions pushing ahead despite the stand-off in contract talks between the studios and the Screen Actors Guild.
In explaining the production shutdown, Universal cited the “cloud of the SAG strike” as one of three factors that led to the postponement. It also said that “the film’s forest locations need to be green,” which suggests even if other factors were to be resolved later this year, the production could not now resume until next spring.
The third key factor was the project’s script by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, with a rewrite by Brian Helgeland. “The current version of the screenplay,” the studio said, “is not yet where the studio and the filmmakers want it to be in terms of realizing the full value of the story.
In summary, the production is being halted because the script sucks, a strike looms and the trees are fighting against them. I am not sure how excited I am about this particular spin on the Robin Hood tale, but I have no problem waiting for it, if a better script is forged as a result. The looming strike and the changing seasons could actually be the best thing that happened to this picture. Sometimes obstacles are blessing in disguise.
We will be on the lookout next spring for further news about this project. Until then, watch Mel Brooks’ Men In Tights.
