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After a fair old sized bidding war, it’s been announced this morning that Universal has won the rights to Nottingham, with Russell Crowe set to star. The spec script has been written by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, who are best known as the writing team behind TV series Sleeper Cell.

Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer is producing, which means that there’s a very good chance of Crowe re-teaming with either Ron Howard (who previously made A Beautiful Mind, and Cinderella Man together for Imagine) or Ridley Scott (who’ve just finished American Gangster for the company), provided either director takes an interest in the story.

According to Reiff, the idea is that “Robin Hood was less virtuous and the sheriff more noble than previously depicted.” Sounds great. “There’s also a love triangle between Robin Hood, Maid Marion and Nottingham’s sherrif.” Hmm – not so much. Back to the main drive of the plot: “He’s trying to do the right thing, but he’s up against Robin Hood, who’s becoming heroic while not necessarily acting in the nicest way.”

The deal is a fantastically well timed piece of news, as only a few days ago, they received word from U.S. cable network Showtime they would not be picking up Sleeper Cell for a third series. However, they must have known this deal was coming – New Line, Warner Bros., Sony, New Regency and DreamWorks were all interested in Nottingham, and some had high-calibur directors attached, like Bryan Singer and Sam Raimi.

Expect production to start later this year, after Crowe’s done shooting 3:10 To Yuma with Christian Bale for director James Mangold.
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