We Almost Got ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES 2 – Here’s What It Would Have Been About
Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves is one of the biggest and most enduring hits of the 1990s. The Kevin Costner starrer grossed almost $400 million following its release in 1991 and while many films from that era received sequels, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves never did.
Directed by Kevin Reynolds, the film stars Kevin Costner as Robin of Locksley, Morgan Freeman as the mysterious Azeem, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Maid Marian, Christian Slater as Will Scarlett and Alan Rickman as the evil Sheriff Of Nottingham.
Pen Densham and John Watson, the writers of Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves joined the Movies In Focus podcast to talk about the film and things soon turned to why the mega hit never received a sequel. The pair told me that they had an exciting follow-up planned, but sadly it was never meant to be – here’s what they had to say:
Pen Densham: I actually wrote the sequel and, we do not know why the people who financed our movie chose not to make a sequel. That sequel was going to involve Robin Hood and his Merry Men going to rescue Richard in the Holy Land where he is being held ransom, and being given the ransom gold by Prince John. And then finding out three quarters of the way that it was painted lead because they were thought of as thieves and he could blame them for his brother never coming back. So that was gonna be the sequel.
John Watson: And he teams up with the Moors to accomplish his goals. And yeah, it was good. I mean, I think that you’d have to speculate that the company did not wanna pay for it. And I don’t think Kevin Costner had the same appetite to repeat the character as he did before. As successful he is, and as you know, as wonderful as he is in the film, he got pretty lambasted by particularly American critics for his performance, and I don’t think he wanted to do it again. He was the star of the nineties and he was being offered everything, you know, so I think he decided to try other things.
Pen Densham: I was much more disappointed. The story didn’t get told because what you find out is that when they’ve lost everything they try and go rob another bunch of thieves because they’ve heard they’ve got money. Turns out that bunch is run by Azeem. He’s the the actual king of that world who’s been deposed. It was one of those things where all the plotting was so cool. I really want to see it.
John Watson: We definitely wanted to do it. Kevin Costner as 60 year old Robin Hood, I don’t know. Will that work?
Pen Densham: He could do it. We could do it. It’s always possible.
Listen to the full podcast episode below – or whoever you get your podcasts.
