Russell Brand to play Hawkwood

Dickensian dandy Rusell Brand already seems like he’s wandered in from a bygone age, so who better to star as 14th Century swashbuckler John Hawkwood? That’s right, nobody.

A notoriously flamboyant mercenary, Hawkwood’s tale struck a chord with Brand, who apparently took the idea to Nicky Weinstock (Fox’s head of comedy) personally. Deadline reports that Weinberg loved the idea, and has hired Jared Stern (who rewrote Brand’s upcoming comedy Arthur ) to knock up a script.

Hawkwood was a highly sought after swordsman (steady), with various countries out-bidding each other to have him at the front of their army. And with historical figures such as Geoffrey Chaucer and Francis Petrarch counting themselves as friends, his story should lend itself to an entertaining romp through history, with Brand almost certain to be prancing around in tights.

Naturally we expect Hawkwood to play fast and loose with historical accuracy, but so long as it’s funny, we’re not really too fussed. Weinstock and Brand have previous from Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek , so don’t be surprised to see a few familiar faces popping up. Jonah Hill as Chaucer, anyone?

No director is attached as yet, with a release date yet to be announced, but yet another custom-made role looks like marking Brand as the new golden boy over at Fox…who needs the BBC, eh?

Russell Brand, movie star…yay or nay?

In cinemas this week...

Inception review Salt review

The A-Team review Predators review

Toy Story 3 review The Karate Kid review

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.