Jamie Foxx Cast as Little John in ROBIN HOOD: ORIGINS

With the recent success of Disney's live-action films based on their classic animated films (and many of those being inspired or adapted from fables or fairy tales), it's no surprise that other studios are continuing to tap into properties that are in the public domain in an effort to capitalize on the public's perceived desire to see these stories rehashed over and over again on the big screen. The trend will continue with Robin Hood: Origins, a Lionsgate film that's set to tell a Batman Begins-style origin of the hero of Sherwood Forest that has Kingsman: The Secret Service's Taron Egerton in place the title character.

Deadline reports that Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx is now on board to play Little John, who, in this version, will be "a battle hardened but war weary veteran of The Crusades who starts out distrustful of Robin Hood (they fought on opposite sides), and then warms to the young hero in the gritty revisionist take on the legend." Joby Harold (Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur) wrote the script, Otto Bathurst (Peaky Blinders) is directing, and Eve Hewson is playing Maid Marian. I'm sure there will be people who complain about casting a black man as Little John, and if that just described you, let me say this: just give it a rest already. It's 2016, for God's sake. "Race-bending" or whatever you want to call this type of casting is going to continue to happen, so do yourself a favor and get used to it. Besides, does anyone care so much about Robin Hood: Origins that they'd be thrown into a rage about a piece of casting news about this movie?