I should have mentioned this earlier (and don’t worry, I’ll mess with the date stamps on my blog to make it seem like I did), but I’ve been waiting for Kingdom of Heaven for some time. My first semester as a medieval grad student at Yale, I received this letter from the medieval departmental secretary:
Dear Paul and Robyn,
My name is [EDITED]. I’m a graduate student at the Divinity School. Prior to this, I worked as a story editor for the filmmaker, Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator).
Ridley is preparing a new, epic film that takes place during the first Crusade. However, he’s concerned about embarking on a project that may be considered inaccurate or insensitive. Thus, he’s seeking a scholarly stamp-of-approval.
Is there anyone in your department, or perhaps another department, who specializes in the Crusades and who may be interested in reading the screenplay?
Please let me know if you have any suggestions.
Sincerely,
[EDITED]
So, if only I had managed to finish my degree and get an appointment to teach at Yale in one month, it could have been me stamping the film with approval.
Apparently, some time between then and now he decided to change the story from the first Crusade to right before the third.