Universal deal makes Crowe the new sheriff in town

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Universal Pictures has scored a bull's-eye, winning a heated bidding war for a revisionist take on the legend of Robin Hood with Russell Crowe attached to play the Sheriff of Nottingham.

The script revolves around Crowe's character's investigation of a series of murders in which Robin Hood is the suspect.

The project hails from Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, creators of the series "Sleeper Cell." Imagine Entertainment is producing.

"Part of the strength of the script was the simple idea of doing Robin Hood by making the sheriff the good guy," Reiff said.

The bidding war came down to Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema, though Regency Enterprises, DreamWorks Pictures and Columbia Pictures were said to be involved as well. About 36 hours after the script had gone out, Universal won. And the writers -- whose "Sleeper Cell" Showtime had canceled on January 25 -- became part of one the biggest deals in some time.

Reiff and Voris' share of the deal is well into seven figures. Sources said the deal for Crowe is $20 million against a 20 percent backend.

Such high-wattage directors as Ridley Scott, Bryan Singer and Sam Raimi are circling the project, which the studio wants to put into production by year's end.

For Universal, the deal is the latest in a string of aggressive moves it has made in recent months. Last week, the studio paid $2 million against $3 million for the movie rights to a New York Times article about a group of soccer-playing refugees. In late October, it was involved in a $42.5 million deal to secure Sacha Baron Cohen's follow-up movie to "Borat."

"Nottingham" will be the fourth joint outing for Crowe, Imagine and Universal. Crowe starred in Imagine and Universal's "A Beautiful Mind" and "Cinderella Man" as well as starring in "American Gangster," which is due this year.

Reiff and Voris also were behind the TV series "Brimstone."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter