For movie fans who love a truly inspiring movie, there are some wonderful and curious upcoming mega-films for which I’m still awaiting my Premiere invitations. (See more upcoming trailers on Premiere.com.)
First up is “Star Trek,” the prequel that brings a third generation of actors aboard the silver screen version of the starship Enterprise. Whether they will “boldly go where no one has gone before” carries a myriad of baggage, especially for audience members who still long for Kirk and Spock and were willing to believe in Piccard and the “Next Generation” crew.
“Casino Royale” proved that prequels in a series could work. Affleck and Morgan in “The Sum of All Fears” tried gamely but the franchise died. As a moderate Trekkie, I hope this one works.
Most interesting for me is Russell Crowe (“Gladiator”) as the title role in “Robin Hood,” opening May 14, 2010. ” Gladiator” still reigns as one of the most inspiring movies of all time in my book, and I hope this offering doesn’t take away from it. It’s not like Crowe is doing a remake, but this is almost like Sylvester Stallone playing a wrestler after “Rocky,” or Clint Eastwood playing a cop after “Dirty Harry” (as he did in “The Gauntlet,”) or Christian Bale doing “Spiderman” in a few years, or Jean-Luc Piccard showing up in “X-Men.” It’s not that it’s impossible: but the overlap is often tough to take.

Crowe will certainly bring a different take to “Robin Hood.” This isn’t “Men in Tights” nor will it feature the melodramatics of Kevin Costner’s last portrayal (though not of the lasting kind, I sure liked it when it was out). Crowe has lost quite a bit of weight compared to his recent films “State of Play” and “Body of Lies.”
But…
How can “Gladiator” become Robin Hood. I love both stories, and I love Russell Crowe, but I’m skeptical as to whether this will work. And to me, that’s not just in box office numbers: will it inspire? I’m looking forward to finding out.