It was just over a week ago that The Hollywood Reporter declared that Nottingham, Ridley Scott's high-profile Robin Hood movie starring Russell Crowe as the Sherriff of Nottingham, had been postponed. Now it appears that the flick could soon be downgraded from "postponed" to "doomed."
According to Patrick Goldstein of The Los Angeles Times, Nottingham is battling a three-headed Hollywood hydra of project-killing obstacles: creative issues, scheduling hurdles and problems with its star. The latter refers to Crowe, whose apparent abandonment of his "fight your way to fitness" program has left him a bit too bloated to realistically chase down a swift, svelte medievel crusader for the poor.
At best, Goldstein says production on Nottingham could start this October, with the release date pushed to 2010. Considering the project's array of hurdles, a more realistic date might be "never."