After a year that featured both hits (Materialists, Marty Supreme) and flops (The Smashing Machine, Death of a Unicorn), A24 seems to be continuing their recent trend towards larger-canvas, more star-driven films, with Hugh Jackman, Jodie Comer and Bill Skarsgård star in The Death of Robin Hood. Michael Sarnoski, who directed Pig and A Quiet Place: Day One, has written and directed the retelling, with Arrival and The Prestige producer Aaron Ryder on board as a producer on the film. Per Deadline, “The film is a darker reimagining of the classic Robin Hood tale. Set of its time, the film will see the title character grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder, a battleworn loner who finds himself gravely injured and in the hands of a mysterious woman who offers him a chance at salvation.” Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus) and Noah Jupe (A Quiet Place) also star in the reimagining.
Hugh Jackman’s Grizzled “Prince of Thieves”
A24 has now released a striking new trailer, which features a grizzled Jackman starring as the titular “Prince of Thieves” who, in this dark new vision, is presented as a murderous bandit being nursed back to health by a young woman, played by Jodi Comer, with whom he may share a violent past. While a strikingly different take on the legend, to me it look a little like Richard Lester’s underrated Robin and Marian, which starred Sean Connery as an illiterate, more brutish, but still ultimately heroic version of the character. Time will tell if this Robin Hood has any redeeming features.
In addition to the trailer, A24 also released a new one-sheet poster for The Death of Robin Hood, which tells you outright with the tagline, “He was no hero.” Jackman’s look is teased as he looks older and weathered, but is adorned with the familiar fatigues of Robin of Locksley. So far the film doesn’t have a release date, with it tentatively set to debut later this year. I’m expecting a mid-summer release. Were it a fall release, we wouldn’t be getting a trailer so early.
What the Filmmakers Are Saying About the Project
Ryder and producer Andrew Swett, of Ryder Picture Company, explain, “This is not the story of Robin Hood we’ve all come to know. Instead, Michael has crafted something far more grounded and visceral. Thanks to Alexander Black and our friends at Lyrical along with Rama and Michael, the world is going to love seeing Hugh and Jodie together in this epic.” Director Sarnoski added, “It has been an incredible opportunity to reinvent and freshly innovate the story we all know of Robin Hood. Securing the perfect cast to transform the script to screen was essential. I could not be more thrilled and trusting in Hugh and Jodie to bring this story to life in a powerful and meaningful way.”
Alexander Black of Lyrical Media will also be on board the project as a producer. Black would chime in, “We are thrilled to be part of this very special project and to be working with a visionary director in Michael, a phenomenal cast in Hugh and Jodie, and producing with our frequent collaborators, Ryder and Swett at RPC.”
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