#movie #show #cinema #shorts #facts #actors
*
TikTok:   / kinogone  
*
Kevin Reynolds’ "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" became one of the biggest box office hits of 1991. Despite a $48 million production budget, the movie grossed $390 million in theaters. Kevin Costner became Hollywood's main star, with fees reaching $15 million per role.

Following "Robin Hood's" huge box office success, Kevin became the subject of a famous joke in Hollywood. It went something like this: "If you ever want to make a movie based on a phone book, simply cast Kevin Costner in the lead role, and it will be a huge box office hit." During the early stages of production, most Hollywood actors rejected the lead role in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves." Nobody saw any box-office potential for the project. Actors turned down not only the lead role, as Mel Gibson and Cary Elwes did, but also supporting roles. Among those who declined the offer was Johnny Depp, who was still relatively unknown at the time. The role that he declined was later given to Christian Slater.

It was only when Kevin Costner showed interest that the project finally got off the ground. However, Costner was not the only reason for the movie's success. Today, let’s talk about another man who made a great contribution to the success of "Robin Hood".

Another important contributor to the film was Alan Rickman. Later, he and Kevin Costner were both nominated for the MTV Movie Awards for their roles in "Robin Hood." Just like Sean Connery, Alan Rickman had no desire to appear in the movie. He found the script and role to be too simple and boring. In the original script, the Sheriff of Nottingham was portrayed as a silent supervillain who would appear on screen only to glare at the camera or give deadly orders through gritted teeth. So, after reading the script, Rickman refused to play the Sheriff. After that, the filmmakers approached actor Richard E. Grant, who was gaining popularity at the time. Grant accepted the offer.

The filming was scheduled to take place in England in the fall of 1990. When it came time to start the production, it turned out that Grant wouldn't be able to participate in "Robin Hood" as he was still working on "HUDSON HAWK (1991)." Filming on "Hudson Hawk" began in June 1990, and Grant was supposed to be free by September. However, due to delays and reshoots, the work on Bruce Willis' film wasn't finished until December 1990. Richard Grant had no choice but to decline the role.
In search of a new main villain, director KEVIN REYNOLDS, and producer PEN DENSHAM approached Alan Rickman again, but he declined to play the Sheriff for the second time. Around the same time, Sean Connery refused the role of Lord Locksley, the father of Kevin Costner's character in the film. Connery didn’t mind being in the film; he just didn’t want to play someone’s father. He said he had played too many fathers in the last few years. Eventually, Costner managed to convince Connery to appear in the movie as King Richard.
After Rickman's second refusal, the "Robin Hood" creators scoured almost all of Hollywood for an actor to play the villain. However, some couldn't appear in the film due to their busy schedules, and others declined the role because they found it too minor.

The filmmakers were left with two options: cast a completely unknown actor as the main villain or postpone filming. Since postponing filming would have meant losing the several million dollars already spent on pre-production, the studio immediately rejected the idea. The second option, however, didn't appeal to Costener, who didn't want to cast an unknown actor as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Rickman was approached for the third time, this time by the director and Costner himself. When Rickman refused again, Costner promised him complete creative control over the role and the freedom to change the Sheriff of Nottingham as he pleased. This would allow Rickman to change the character’s personality and lines, and even improvise, among other things.
Naturally, the actor couldn't refuse such an offer. Especially given that, in addition to all the benefits, he was offered the largest payment he had ever received. Thus, Rickman's entire performance in "Robin Hood" was pure improvisation. The actor made up a lot of scenes on the spot, like the one where he wipes the scar off his statue.
Some of Alan Rickman's lines were written by his close friend, playwright Peter Barnes. Barnes found the script awful and believed it needed humor to lighten the tone. Some scenes in the film were his idea, such as the one where the Sheriff arranges an appointment with two women. What’s amusing is that Costner greatly reduced Rickman's role after the film's test screenings. This is because the Sheriff of Nottingham was very popular with the audience, and many thought that he was overshadowing Costner's character.