The writers received a seven-figure deal for the purchase.[5] The following April, Ridley Scott was hired to direct the film, with Sam Raimi and Bryan Singer also considered for the position.[6][7] Scott had attempted to get rights for himself and 20th Century Fox, but had previously collaborated with Grazer on American Gangster and signed on as director rather than a producer.[4] Scott claimed two previous film adaptations of Robin Hood: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves (2001), and Scott managed to recreate the film, saying "the best, frankly, was Mel Brooks's Men in Tights, because Cary Elwes was quite a comic".[9]