A conceptually intriguing film that turns the outlaw hero into a selfish criminal struggles to find its footing despite some fantastic craftwork

Spoiler: Robin Hood is going to die. In bluntly titled drama The Death of Robin Hood, that might be exactly what one is programmed to expect but, in this often intriguing revisionist tale, it’s what he leaves behind that might be more of a shock.

With the gap between the ultra-rich and the rest of us continuing to expand at a riot-inducing pace (we now have our first trillionaire – congrats!), it’d be tempting to use a folk hero of the past as a rousing symbol of what many of us would like to see in the present. But in writer-director Michael Sarnoski’s darker, grubbier take, Robin Hood takes from anyone and keeps it for himself, despite what the legend might say. In fact, as played by a dour Hugh Jackman, he’s plagued by stories told by fireside, painting him as someone to be heralded, and it’s only those whose lives he’s touched that know the truth, if they were lucky enough to survive. He’s then an outlaw running not just from the authorities, but from the aggrieved fathers and brothers who want to avenge what he ripped away from them.

In this week’s newsletter: From singers to YouTube stars and TV hosts, more famous faces are treading the boards. Some insiders think it’s killing the industry, but for others it opens up theatre to a wider audience

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Timothée Chalamet might have smirked his way out of an Oscar. Sabrina Carpenter might have been roundly snubbed at the Grammys. But there’s one place both would be welcomed with open arms: the UK theatre scene.

It seems we can’t get enough of celebs on stage (acting chops preferable but not mandatory). This week alone, London’s West End features Stranger Things star Sadie Sink, singer Self Esteem and Strictly cutie pie Johannes Radebe. Meanwhile, Mischa Barton, best known for playing Marissa Cooper in the 00s TV series The OC, is touring the UK and Ireland in a new adaptation of James M. Cain’s crime novel Double Indemnity.

The previous actors to take the lead in Stieg Larsson’s franchise were excellent. So the successor to Noomi Rapace, Rooney Mara and Claire Foy is bound to be brilliant – whoever they are …

This week Sky announced that it will be remaking Stieg Larsson’s 2005 novel The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo as an eight-part television series. So far, all we know is that it will be set in the present day and will be written by Steve Lightfoot and Angela LaManna.

What we don’t know is who will play Lisbeth Salander, the aforementioned girl with the dragon tattoo. And this will be a big deal, because previous screen adaptations of Larsson’s books have made stars of whoever was cast as Salander. In 2009’s Swedish adaptation, she was played by Noomi Rapace, who was nominated for a Bafta. In David Fincher’s 2011 remake, she was played by Rooney Mara, who was nominated for an Oscar. And in 2018’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web adaptation, she was played by Claire Foy, who wasn’t nominated for a Bafta or an Oscar, but was still very good.