Revisionism is alive in Hollywood as we hear that Universal Pictures has just won a deal to produce a new take on the famous Robin Hood tale with Russell Crowe to play the Sheriff of Nottingham. Hold on though, when I said revisionism I meant it, in this tale the Sheriff is the good guy.

The story sounds like a modern day detective novel, the Sheriff is investigating a series of murders in Nottingham in which Robin Hood is the main suspect - is he wearing a hoodie and hanging around shopping centres?

Joking aside this has a lot of potential as it comes from the creators of Sleeper Cell which has been really quite a clever show. Ethan Reiff, one of the creators, said that the strength of it is in the simplicity of making the Sheriff the good guy. Does that then follow that they will make Robin Hood the bad guy, or still a lovable rogue outlaw always doing good deeds?

The story from Reuters and Yahoo News goes on to talk about the bidding war, but I'm more interested in the reworking of this classic tale.

For once, could they be revising history the right way round? Sure Robin could still be giving to the poor and looking out for his fellow people, but he doesn't have to be the shining light as he is so often portrayed. Perhaps by showing him as the outlaw but still doing the deeds for the poor and trying to oust those in power it might give a better story.

Of course the worrying thing is if they go all guns blazing at the idea and make him a terrorist type trying to destroy the strong and order bringing regime. I really hope they don't do that to such a beloved tale.