If we can clearly see, from afar, a piece of the fleshy buttocks of Kevin Costner frolicking naked under a waterfall in Robin Hood, prince of thievesknow that these are not really those of the man whose popularity in Hollywood was at the height, after having filmed Dances with Wolves et The Untouchables. No. Even filmed from more than fifty meters away, modesty requires, these are those of his double!
But the film Kevin Reynoldsreleased in 1991, is far from being limited to that. With its budget exceeding $60 million and the appearance, at the very end, of Sean Connery in the role of Richard the Lionheart ($250,000 for a day of filming), it is a big production and a rereading, if not daring, let's say original, of Robin Hood. The British screenwriter Penn Densham one day had the idea of modifying the story of the vigilante in tights from Sherwood Forest as we know it from the films, notably the one with Errol Flynn, in 1938, and the Disney cartoon of 1973, to make Robin de Locksley the son of a nobleman, rather a brat, spoiled, who discovers, on his return from the Crusades – after spending five years in the jails of the Moors –, a social conscience and becomes a rebel. Without tights, long hair, a biting, almost ironic tone, wielding a sword and knowing, of course, how to shoot arrows like no one else. But this last facet, or rather this particular talent, is almost put aside in the scenario: in fact, not the slightest trace of an archers' tournament. On the other hand, fights in spades.
MEL GIBSON FIRST CONSIDERED FOR THE ROLE
To embody this quirky Robin Hood, Mel Gibson is requested first. But the actor, between two Lethal Weapons (2 and 3), declines upon discovering the scenario that he imagined more in the spirit ofErrol Flynnof which he is a fan. Kevin Reynolds then requests another Kevin, Costner, that he had started in comedy A hell of a partyin 1985. The actor had already been approached twice, but had declined. When he learns that Kevin Reynolds is in charge, Costner accepts without even having read the latest developments in the script: “ I thought Kevin was such a good filmmaker that I would have said yes anyway. »
Ultra-in demand between the release and the success of Dances with Wolves and filming another big project, J FK, Kevin has little time to prepare for the role. He had imagined taking on an English accent. He doesn't have the time to refine it, and abandons the idea. Hence a Robin Hood speaking in English like a modern-day Californian, rather than a nobleman from the Middle Ages. In the French version, Bernard Lanneau, which doubles him, gives him a lot of second degree, while retaining a touch of arrogance. The film is partly shot in the United Kingdom and in France, in Carcassonne, whose ramparts become those of Nottingham. Upon its release, the film flew from record to record. It raked in nearly $400 million in worldwide revenue, ranking among the most profitable films, behind Terminator 2.
