Vanessa Redgrave joins Robin Hood film

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Vanessa Redgrave is joining the cast of director Ridley Scott's untitled Robin Hood project, starring Russell Crowe, which is beginning production in the United Kingdom.

Redgrave will play Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, mother of King John (Oscar Isaacs). Also joining the cast is French actress Lea Seydoux, who plays Princess Isabella in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming "Inglourious Basterds."

The project, originally envisioned as a revisionist take on the Robin Hood story told from the point of view of the Sheriff of Nottingham, was scheduled to begin filming last August but was put on hold for more script work.

As described by Universal, the Universal/Imagine project, written by Ethan Reiff & Cyrus Voris and Brian Helgeland, now follows Robin from his early days in King Richard's army to his return to Nottingham to his creation of a band of mercenaries who challenge the sheriff and eventually try to prevent civil war.

Cate Blanchett, as Lady Marion, is starring opposite Crowe. The cast also includes Mark Strong as King John's henchman Sir Godfrey, Scott Grimes as Welshman Will Scarlet, Kevin Durand as Scotsman Little John, and Alan Doyle as the Irish troubadour Allan Adayle.

Oscar winner Redgrave -- recently in the media eye after the death of her older daughter, actress Natasha Richardson -- had a small role in the 2007 drama "Atonement." She appears on the series "Nip/Tuck" as the mother of the character played by her daughter Joely Richardson.

(Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)