Crowe as Robin

Many of my blog readers are, like me, eagerly awaiting the release of the latest Robin Hood movie currently being filmed over here in England under the directorship of Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett. Let’s hope we are all not too disappointed!

Here is the latest Hollywood gossip courtesy of the Daily Mail:

“Russell Crowe has been working hard to ensure that the pounds don’t pile (back) on while he’s playing Robin Hood in the new movie.

The film’s producers have thought-fully installed £80,000 worth of gym equipment in one of the three Winnebago trailers he’s using on the set of the film about the outlaw famous in folk tales for robbing the rich to give to the poor.

The converted motor home is full of weightlifting gear, a cycle machine and other fitness paraphernalia, to keep Crowe looking lean in his Lincoln Green.

The actor dieted and trained for several weeks before shooting started six weeks ago. ‘Russell’s a professional. He knew he was cast to play Robin, not Friar Tuck,’ one wag on the set told me.
For what was initially labelled a ‘difficult production,’ work on Robin Hood has (so far) been relatively smooth and executives at Universal in Los Angeles have been delighted with the footage that has been speeding its way back to them on a daily basis.

Shooting was to have begun last autumn and among many problems was a script that no one liked. Someone who saw an early draft told me it was one of the worst he’d read in years.
However, various people have toiled away on it, including Tom Stoppard, who gave it a top-to-bottom polish that left everyone happy-particularly Crowe, director Ridley Scott and leading lady Cate Blanchett.

The Oscar-winning actress joined the film after a red alert went out from Crowe and Scott when Sienna Miller withdrew from the project and Kate Winslet and Rachel Weisz were found to be otherwise engaged.

Shooting continues until early August and includes a two-week French invasion segment that will be filmed in Pembrokeshire.”