Robin Hood Relocates To London

Can't see this one going down too well up Nottingham way: a proposed film version of Robin Hood could see the caped crusader hooded hero and harrier of the rich relocate to a futuristic, dystopian London. Producers Atlas Entertainment (responsible for the recent Batman reboot) want to bring the scourge of Sherwood Forest down to the Smoke in a story that will focus not (unfortunately) on an attempt to save the endangered council block that bears his name, but on a band of thieves whose activities "restore hope to the city's embattled population". Yeah, 'cause there's nothing that cheers Londoners' hearts more than the sight of hoodie-wearing youngsters engaging in a calculated campaign of robbing and stealing. To quell queries from tradionalists, the producers have stressed that this is a project "inspired by and [payng] homage to" the legend. If the film goes ahead, it'll go head-to-head with a Ridley Scott version currently being filmed, an echo of the two Sherlock Holmes films in production. But neither of the new Hoods will hold a flaming arrow to their Nineties counterparts, Kevin Costner vehicle (and Bryan Adams pension plan) Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves and the superlative, historically watertight Robin Hood: Men In Tights.