The following are some of the notable adaptations of the Robin Hood story in film and television.
Robin Hood, English-language live-action films and television series Theatrical shorts 1908: Robin Hood and His Merry Men, a silent film directed by Percy Stow, and the first appearance of Robin Hood on the screen. 1912: Robin Hood, a silent film starring Robert Frazer as Robin Hood. 1912: Robin Hood Outlawed, a British silent film starring A. Brian Plant as Robin Hood. 1913: Robin Hood, a silent film starring William Russell as Robin Hood. 1913: In the Days of Robin Hood, a British short film starring Harry Agar Lyons as Robin Hood.
Theatrical features 1922: Robin Hood, a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks. 1938: The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn as Robin Hood, his most acclaimed role, with Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian, Eugene Pallette as Friar Tuck, Alan Hale, Sr. as Little John, Basil Rathbone as Guy of Gisborne, Claude Rains as Prince John, Patric Knowles as Will Scarlet, Melville Cooper as the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Ian Hunter as Richard I of England. Considered by many to be the best Robin Hood movie. 1946: The Bandit of Sherwood Forest, a film starring Cornel Wilde as Robert of Nottingham, Robin Hood's son; Robin Hood is played by Russell Hicks. 1948: The Prince of Thieves, a film starring Jon Hall as Robin Hood. 1950: Rogues of Sherwood Forest, a film starring John Derek as Robin Hood's son, Robin of Huntington. 1951: Tales of Robin Hood, a Robert Lippert film with Robert Clarke as Robin Hood 1952: The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men, a feature from Walt Disney, starring Richard Todd as Robin, Joan Rice as Marian, Peter Finch as the Sheriff of Nottingham, James Hayter as Friar Tuck, James Robertson Justice as Little John, Hubert Gregg as Prince John, Elton Hayes as Alan-a-Dale, Anthony Forwood as Will Scarlet, and Patrick Barr as King Richard. 1954: The Men of Sherwood Forest, a Hammer Films feature starring Don Taylor as Robin. 1958: The Son of Robin Hood, in which the 'son' of Robin Hood, actually his daughter, is played by June Laverick. 1960: Sword of Sherwood Forest, a Hammer version, with Richard Greene reprising his television role. 1967: A Challenge for Robin Hood, a Hammer version, with Barrie Ingham as Robin Hood. 1969: Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood, a Hammer version. 1969: The Erotic Adventures of Robin Hood, a softcore pornographic adaptation. Originally titled 'The Ribald Tales of Robin Hood'. 1973: Robin Hood, an animated musical version starring animals produced by Walt Disney Productions. 1976: Robin and Marian, starring Sean Connery as Robin, Audrey Hepburn as Maid Marian, Nichol Williamson as Little John and Ronnie Barker as Friar Tuck. 1991: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner as Robin, Morgan Freeman as Azeem, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Marian, Christian Slater as Will Scarlet, Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Mike McShane as Friar Tuck, Nick Brimble as Little John, and Michael Wincott as Guy of Gisbourne, with Sean Connery appearing as King Richard in the finale. 1991: Robin Hood, starring Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman, a reinvention of the story pitting Robin Hood against different antagonists. The film was released theatrically in Europe, Australia and Japan, and on television on the Fox network in the United States and in South America. 1993: Robin Hood: Men in Tights, a film by Mel Brooks that spoofs both the 1938 and the 1991 films and recycles bits from his short-lived late-1975 Robin Hood TV sitcom When Things Were Rotten. Cary Elwes plays Robin in the movie. Richard Lewis plays Prince John while Roger Rees plays the Sheriff of Nottingham. Amy Yasbeck plays Marian, Eric Allan Kramer is Little John, and Matthew Porretta is Will Scarlet. Patrick Stewart appears in the ending, spoofing Sean Connery's take on King Richard. 2010: Robin Hood, a film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe as Robin, Cate Blanchett as Marian, Oscar Isaac as Prince John, Danny Huston as King Richard, Mark Addy as Friar Tuck, Matthew Macfadyen as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Kevin Durand as Little John, Scott Grimes as Will Scarlet, and Alan Doyle as Alan-a-Dale. 2018: Robin Hood, a film directed by Otto Bathurst previously titled Robin Hood: Origins, starring Taron Egerton as Robin, Jamie Foxx as Little John, Ben Mendelsohn as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Eve Hewson as Marian, Tim Minchin as Friar Tuck, Jamie Dornan as Will Scarlet, and Paul Anderson as Guy of Gisborne 2026: The Death of Robin Hood, directed by Michael Sarnoski, telling the story of Robin Hood (Hugh Jackman) after a life of crime and murder. 2026: The Uprising, directed by Paul Greengrass, depicting the 1381 Peasants' Revolt. The film bears tangential relations to the Robin Hood legend, in the form of a closing scene set in Sherwood Forest, where the unnamed protagonist (played by Andrew Garfield) leads a group of archers. The film was briefly subtitled The Rise of Robin Hood for the US release.
Direct-to-video features 1994: Robin Hood: Prince of Sherwood, starring Jason Braly as Robin Hood 2007: Splitting the Arrow, starring Calvert Tooley as Robin Hood 2018: Robin Hood: The Rebellion, a film directed by Nicholas Winter.
Television films 1968: The Legend of Robin Hood, a 90-minute American television musical, featuring the songs of Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen. Starring David Watson as Robin Hood, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as King Richard. 1975: Robin Hood Junior, starring Keith Chegwin as a young Robin. This was spun off in 1976 into a short series, The Unbroken Arrow, with different actors. 1984: The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood, a made-for-TV spoof starring George Segal (Robin), Morgan Fairchild (Marian) and Roddy McDowall (Prince John). 2001: Princess of Thieves, a Disney-produced American made-for-TV movie, starred Keira Knightley as Robin Hood's (Stuart Wilson) heroic adolescent daughter, Gwyn, who takes over her father's role and comes to his rescue. 2009: Beyond Sherwood Forest, a TV movie starring Robin Dunne as Robin Hood and Erica Durance as Maid Marian 2022: The Adventures of Maid Marian. A TV movie focusing on Maid Marian (Sophie Craig), with Dominic Andersen playing Robin Hood."Review-The Adventures of Maid Marian". Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 26 March 2022, (p. 56)
Television series 1953: Robin Hood a television series on BBC Television, featured Patrick Troughton, in the first representation of Robin Hood on television. 1955–1959: The Adventures of Robin Hood, a long-running British series starring Richard Greene that is also remembered for its catchy theme tune. 1955: Robin Hood, the Movie (compilation from the Richard Greene TV series) (1991 release, according to some sources) 1956: Robin Hood's Greatest Adventures (also starring Donald Pleasence as Prince John) (compilation from the Richard Greene TV series) (1991 release, according to some sources) 1958: Robin Hood: The Quest for the Crown (compilation from the Richard Greene TV series) (1991 or 1995 release, according to some sources) 1975: The Legend of Robin Hood, a six-episode BBC serial starring Martin Potter in the title role, Paul Darrow as the Sheriff of Nottingham and Diane Keen as Lady Marion. The adaptation was aired on public television in the USA later in the 1970s. 1975: When Things Were Rotten, a comedy TV series produced by Mel Brooks and starring Richard Gautier (as an imbecilic Robin Hood), Bernie Kopell and Misty Rowe. 1984–1986: Robin of Sherwood, a fantasy-style British television series starring Michael Praed and later Jason Connery as Robin. The series set the template for many of the adaptations that followed, most notably the introduction of a Saracen (Muslim) outlaw and the move to a grittier tone. 1989–1994: Maid Marian and her Merry Men, a British children's TV show, featured Kate Lonergan as Maid Marian, the dynamic leader of the resistance against Prince John. Robin was shown as her cowardly and buffoonish figurehead, with Nottingham as John's put-upon, sarcastic enforcer. 1997–1999: The New Adventures of Robin Hood, a French–U.S. TV series, starred Matthew Porretta as a black-leather-clad Robin in the first two seasons and John Bradley taking over the lead role in the final two seasons. The tone of the series resembled its contemporaries Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. Porretta had appeared as Will Scarlet O'Hara in Men in Tights. 2006–2009: Robin Hood, a BBC One television series was produced by Tiger Aspect. It was first broadcast as thirteen-episode series in the UK from October to December 2006, with a second series following in 2007, and a third in 2009. Jonas Armstrong stars in the title role. 2023: Robyn Hood, a Canadian series created by Director X which reimagines Robin Hood as "Robyn" (a female rapper) and "The Hood" (a masked hip-hop band) living in a working class area in the fictional city of New Nottingham and sparring with antagonists including The Sheriff and a property tycoon named John Prince. 2025–present: Robin Hood a television series on MGM+, starring Jack Patten as Robin Hood and Sean Bean as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Robin Hood in Ivanhoe, English-language live-action films and television series Ivanhoe: A Romance by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes in 1819, proved to be one of the best-known and most influential of Scott's novels, so much so that it influenced popular perceptions of Robin Hood. The following adaptions of the novel feature Robin Hood:
Theatrical features 1913: Ivanhoe, featuring Walter Thomas as Robin Hood. 1952: Ivanhoe, featuring Harold Warrender as Locksley (Robin Hood).
Television films 1982: Ivanhoe, featuring David Robb as Robin Hood.
Television series 1958-1959: Ivanhoe, starring Roger Moore as Ivanhoe. Also features Emerton Court as "Sir Robert" in the episode "Arms and the Women". 1997: Ivanhoe, featuring Aden Gillett as Robin of Locksley.
Robin Hood–themed parodies, English-language live-action films and television series Since Robin Hood is a character in the public domain, there is no restriction on his use. Thus, he has often appeared in other films and TV series that do not revolve around the legend in strictest terms, and some other characters have played a Robin Hood-like role. or be an In others Robin Hood is interactive with other characters that originate in other TV shows and films.
Theatrical features and serials 1939: Mexicali Rose is an American Western film directed by George Sherman and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and Noah Beery. Based on a story by Luci Ward and Connie Lee 1946: Son of the Guardsman is a serial with a period setting, in this case 12th century England. The serial is largely based on the Robin Hood legends, to the extent of including outlaws from Sherwood Forest, but it does not include or reference Robin Hood himself. 1952: Miss Robin Hood, a British film starring Margaret Rutherford as a modern-day female Robin Hood. 1963: Siege of the Saxons, a British Arthurian film starring Janette Scott as Princess Katherine (King Arthur's daughter) and Ronald Lewis as Robert Marshall, a thieving archer who proclaims he only steals from the rich. The two go on the run as outlaws and fall in love after the evil Edmund of Cornwall attempts to usurp Arthur's throne after his death. 1964: Robin and the 7 Hoods, a musical film set in 1930s gangster Chicago, with Frank Sinatra as "Robbo". 1971: Up the Chastity Belt, starring Frankie Howerd, with Hugh Paddick as Robin Hood. 1981: Time Bandits, starring John Cleese, Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall; written and directed by Terry Gilliam had a short spoof of the Robin Hood legend, with Robin (played by Cleese) being portrayed as an upper class twit and as a parody of Charles, Prince of Wales.