So I’m convinced that M. Night Shyamalan is now directing the marketing and announcements for Ridley Scott‘s upcoming movie, Robin Hood — formerly known as Nottingham.

First we heard about the movie and that it starred Russell Crowe as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Then we heard various names who may be playing Robin Hood. Then, shockingly, we heard that Crowe was Nottingham AND Robin Hood… our minds blew. Now comes word that Nottingham doesn’t even really have that big a role, Crowe will just play Robin Hood, and that the movie will actually just go with the same old standby title, Robin Hood.

Ridley Scott spoke to MTV and explained the confusion…

MTV sat mega-producer Brian Grazer down and had a little talk with him. In said chat, Grazer was asked about the rumor floating around that Russell Crowe would be playing both Robin Hood AND the Sheriff of Nottingham in Ridley Scott‘s upcoming Nottingham. Unfortunately, Grazer may have explained the situation while finding some miraculous way to add more damn confusion to the pie.

There is a tad of a possible spoiler mentioned here. It involves the very beginning of the movie, not the end, but either way, you’ve been warned.

OK, so this isn’t really movie news, but I thought it was cool enough to share you all of you, my bestest friends.

The Scotsman is reporting that archeologists digging in Rome on a site where a warehouse had just been demolished to make room for a new housing development have discovered the tomb of Marcus Nonius Macrinus — the man for which Russell Crowe‘s character Maximus in Gladiator was based!

While both share similarities, they also share many differences. Both were major figures and the Maximus that we see at the beginning of Gladiator is very accurate to what Macrinus was in life. The relationship between them and Emperor Marcus Aurelius was also accurate, but this is where the similarities end. Marcus Nonius Macrinus was never a slave who battled back to face and kill the evil son of the Emperor. He actually lived his life again as we saw at the beginning of the film and he died a very rich and famous man.

Body of Lies
Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Alon Abutbul, Mark Strong
Rated R
Release Date: October 10, 2008

CIA spy Roger Ferris is sent to Jordan to find a Middle Eastern terrorist in Body of Lies. Smart but spent, Body of Lies is an American stereotype done up nice.

Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), a CIA agent in Iraq, is reassigned to Jordan to find Al-Saleem (Alon Abutbul), a terrorist threatening to commit attacks all over Europe. Contrary to and against the warning of his successors, Ferris decides to include the Head of Jordanian General Intelligence Department, the well dressed and brilliant Hani Salaam (Mark Strong) in the planning to catch this terrorist. Overweight and callous CIA boss Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), lives in Washington DC and manages Ferris. It is obvious that Hoffman has left a trail of burned relationships in his wake.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe give equally convincing performances. DiCaprio puts his angry face on as he runs around, refreshingly innocent and naive for a spy. Crowe taps into a smarmy quality in a deep, cold sense. Even though both Crowe and DiCaprio are fun to watch, Body of Lies belongs to Mark Strong.

Recently, we covered the story that Russell Crowe would be playing both the Sheriff of Nottingham and Robin Hood in Ridley Scott‘s Nottingham.

The news was said to be straight from the mouth of Scott, so it had to be true.

In the comments section on the story we were lead to a Russell Crowe fan-site that has a “quote” from Crowe saying that he’s not doing both roles.

On the site, called Murph’s Place, Crowe says: