SIMANOVCI, Serbia (AP) — Villages and castles from Twelfth-century England got here to life in a small city in Serbia for the filming of a brand new sequence about Robin Hood that has simply wrapped within the landlocked nation in southeast Europe.
The ten-episode tackle England’s beloved medieval outlaw who, in lore, stole from the wealthy to present to the poor, comes from Lionsgate Tv, and is anticipated to premiere on MGM+ within the U.S. and elements of Europe later this 12 months.
The Related Press just lately visited the set in Simanovci, the village which is dwelling to a movie studio and never removed from the capital of Belgrade. Thorough analysis for the sequence was seen within the scenography and costumes, taking the solid — and the studio — again in time to the stony interiors of a candlelit fort, full with stained-glass lancet home windows.
The “sweeping, romantic adventure” affords a traditionally grounded look into how Robin Hood grew as much as turn into an outlaw-turned-hero within the wake of the Norman conquest of England, the producers say.
“We actually show the beginning of Robin Hood,” producer, director and author Jonathan English, who was a most important driving pressure behind the undertaking, stated in an interview. “We start the story with him as a child.”
Self-described as a “huge fan of all things medieval,” English marveled at Robin Hood’s persistent world attraction.
“You can stop a pensioner on the streets of Belgrade and he knows who Robin Hood is. You can stop a teenager on the streets of Beijing, and they know who Robin Hood is,” he stated.
Requested whether or not the story remains to be related, following numerous cinematic and small-screen variations, English insisted that “it is incredibly relevant, probably more today than … 50 years ago or 100 years ago, even.”
“It’s a story about class and the absolute tyranny of class, people who believe that they can have everything and control everything and can own everything and everybody else could just, you know, get lost,” he stated. “There’s always been wealthy people, but now you have uber-rich people. And the divide between the uber-rich and the rest of the world is extraordinary now.”
The present’s plot facilities strongly on the romance between Robin and Marian. He’s a Saxon forester’s son and Marian is the daughter of a Norman lord however they overcome the divide to collectively combat for freedom and in opposition to injustice.
Australian actor Jack Patten performs Robin, joined by Lauren McQueen as Marian. The 2 seem alongside Sean Bean because the infamous Sheriff of Nottingham, and Connie Nielsen, who performs Eleanor of Aquitaine, the queen of England and spouse of Henry II.
Patten admitted he was nervous forward of his “third gig since getting out of drama school.” His Robin is “any young 24-year-old … trying to find his place in the world” and who “gets dealt some pretty tricky cards.”
McQueen stated Marian’s character shall be “quite empowering” for younger ladies watching the sequence.
Filmed in a number of areas in Serbia and with lots of of workers and crew, the sequence is “huge” even by Hollywood requirements, showrunner and author John Glenn stated. He described the brand new present as “much more Peaky Blinders in tone” than earlier incarnations, referring to the hit U.Ok. TV sequence about gangsters in Twenties Birmingham.
Each Glenn and English stated they selected Serbia due to high-standard services and crews but in addition due to the pure surroundings that might mimic a medieval English panorama.
“It’s hard to find ancient forests now in England,” English stated. “There’s not a number of undeveloped wilderness.”
