Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

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Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was a 1991 film directed by Kevin Reynolds.

Kevin Costner heads the cast list as Robin Hood. The film also starred Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Maid Marian, Morgan Freeman as Azeem, Christian Slater as Will Scarlet and Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham.

The film is remembered for Bryan Adams' ballad "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" (included on his Waking Up the Neighbours album and the motion picture's soundtrack) which broke pop chart records in the United Kingdom. It remained Number 1 for a record 16 weeks. It was also a #1 hit in Canada and the United States.

Earning $165 million domestically and $225 million abroad, it was second only to Terminator 2: Judgment Day in worldwide 1991 ticket sales. The movie received a mostly positive feedback, but critics complained about Costner's on-again, off-again British accent. Rickman's comedic performance as the Sheriff garnered wide praise, however.

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Inspiration

The screenplay for this film drew almost exclusively on the British TV series Robin of Sherwood. Morgan Freeman was originally to play a character named Nasir, until stuntman Terry Walsh (who worked on both projects) pointed out to director Kevin Reynolds that Nasir was created specifically for Robin of Sherwood and does not appear in any other telling of the Robin Hood legend. As such, the character is the property of Robin of Sherwood creator Richard Carpenter. To avoid a lawsuit, Reynolds changed the name of Nasir to Azeem.

This caused a rift between Walsh and Carpenter, as the latter was aware his character was being used without permission and had planned to wait until the movie was released before suing the studio and director. Carpenter planned on using the money to fund a revival of his TV series.

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Trivia

This was Sean Connery's (who plays King Richard) second Robin Hood film. He played Robin Hood in the movie, Robin and Marian.
Much of the film was spoofed in Mel Brooks's film Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
The role of the Sheriff was originally to have been played by Richard E. Grant. However, when shooting on the film Hudson Hawk overran, he was indisposed and replaced by Rickman.
Robin Wright Penn was the original choice to play Maid Marion, but she declined because she was pregnant at the time.
The fourth wall is broken at the very end of the film, as the character of Friar Tuck tells the audience to get out of here as it's time to celebrate.