Robin Hood star Taron Egerton said he was pitched a very different film than the one that ultimately bombed at the box office.
Variety spoke with Egerton for their latest podcast, mostly covering the actor's turn as Elton John. But the discussion also touched on Egerton's starring role in 2018's gritty Robin Hood reboot, which took a number of creative liberties with the source material.
For Egerton's part, he believes the eventual failure of the film to capture the attention of critics and audiences alike was the result of some un-artistic decision-making by the powers behind the movie:
"It was absolutely not the movie that I signed up to make," he said. "It was pitched to me in a different way. I think it was made by committee and I think it lost its vision. I wasn’t very happy on set. I didn’t have a very happy time making it."
On a budget of $100 million, Robin Hood only managed to pull in $85.7 million worldwide, with a mere $30.8 million of that from domestic ticket sales. The film holds a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the audience score slightly higher at 41%. All told, the film was a huge disaster for Lionsgate and the first major flop for the rising Egerton.
The film seemed to set up a sequel -- par for the course with genre films these days -- though it seems unlikely that one will materialize. But with Robin Hood a public domain character, expect someone new to try their hand at the story soon.