Kingsman’s Taron Egerton in early talks for lead role in Robin Hood: Origins

Last week we learned Jack Huston, Taron Egerton, Jack Reynor, Dylan O'Brien and Nicholas Hoult were on Lionsgate's shortlist for the lead role in ROBIN HOOD: ORIGINS, with Reynor having a slight edge over his fellow actors, but now Deadline is reporting that Egerton is in early talks for the part. The key word here though is early, as he may not be able to do it if a KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE sequel gets the greenlight at Fox. But if Lionsgate is able to reach a deal with Egerton, Deadline says the studio's next task will be to find an actress to play his love interest.

Peaky Blinders' Otto Bathurst is set to helm the origin story from a script by KNIGHTS OF THE ROUNDTABLE: KING ARTHUR scribe Joby Harold, which has been compared to THE DARK KNIGHT, and described as a "gritty, revisionist take on the legend."

Here, Robin Hood returns from fighting in The Crusades and finds that Sherwood Forest is rife with corruption and evil. He forms a band of outlaws and they take matters into their own hands.

The Lionsgate project is just one of several Robin Hood-centric flicks currently in the works, with Disney, Sony and Warner Bros. also developing live-action films featuring the heroic outlaw. The studio's plan is start production on ROBIN HOOD: ORIGINS sometime in early 2016.