Director Michael Sarnoski On The Death of Robin Hood

We have gotten so many Robin Hood adaptations across our lifetimes, and there’s bound to be many more until the end of time. As a character that’s been around since the 15th century, it’s to be expected. Michael Sarnoski has managed to deliver a more grounded character study with The Death of Robin Hood, and we were able to discuss with him his inspirations for the movie and more.

The Death of Robin Hood follows Robin Hood grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder. He finds himself gravely injured after a battle he thought would be his last. In the hands of a mysterious woman, he is offered a chance at salvation. Robin Hood is played by Hugh Jackman (Song Sung Blue, Deadpool & Wolverine). The movie also stars Jodie Comer (28 Years Later, The Last Duel) as Sister Brigid and Bill Skarsgård (Nosferatu, Barbarian) as Little John.

In the interview below, director Michael Sarnoski explained why this tale was right for the movie by saying, “I had been fascinated by The Death of Robin Hood legend since I read it when I was 9 or 10. The Fox, that had been my Robin Hood growing up, and [Kevin] Costner. I had all the toys – that was also my Robin. My dad passed away when I was 9, and I had this neighbour who kind of became this mentor who gave me his old copy of his boyhood Robin Hood book from the 40s as a sort of “Hey, I know this was important to you and your dad. You both loved Robin Hood. Here’s something that you can live on, and you can keep cherishing these stories.”

I read that book, and it ended with The Death of the Robin Hood legend, and that was my first time ever reading that. Growing up with the Fox and Costner, the idea of this quiet, thoughtful death for this hero was like, “What? Like, this doesn’t make any sense.” So I was really fascinated by the sort of quiet and surprise of that ending and always knew that I wanted to kind of explore it. So when I was thinking about doing a Robin Hood movie, it kind of – it was obvious to me that it’s going to be The Death of Robin Hood.”