According to Variety, Jamie Dornan is in talks to join the cast as Will Scarlet in Lionsgate’s franchise starter Robin Hood: Origins.

Directed by Otto Bathurst (Peaky Blinders, Hysteria), Kingsman lead Taron Egerton will star as Robin Hood in a gritty origins story that definitely won't contain any music by Bryan Adams.  The project was due to start production earlier this year, but Egerton's contractual commitments to Kingsman: The Golden Circle forced Lionsgate to delay filming until Egerton was available. 

Lionsgate is hoping to launch a Marvel-style universe with Robin Hood serving as the central character bringing a team of outlaw heroes together. Here's hoping that Lionsgate has more luck than Universal and Ridley Scott's 2010 Robin Hood starring Russell Crowe. Scott had made no secret of his desire to make sequels, but the costly epic didn't make enough at the box office to merit a follow-up.

Produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Robin Hood Origins also stars Jamie Foxx as Little John and Eve Hewson (The Knick, Bridge of Spies) as Maid Marian. Production is due to commence in the next few weeks, and Lionsgate should be announcing an official release date before the end of the year. 

This year Jamie Dornan has given Dwayne Johnson a run for his money in the prolific actor department. Over the last 12 months, Dornan has found time to star in World War II movie Anthropoid, the tense horror The 9th Life of Louis Drax, a third series of the acclaimed BBC thriller The Fall and shot two 50 Shades sequels back to back. The first trailer for 50 Shades Darker received more views in its first 24 hours than Star Wars The Force Awakens garnered last year. Let's just think about that terrifying statistic for a moment.

50 Shades Darker is released on February 10, 2017.