Guy Ritchie Developing a King Arthur Film Epic

Guy Ritchie, director of "Snatch", "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels", and the recent Robert Downey Jr. "Sherlock Holmes" movies, was looking to direct his own long-range epic series with a new version of the King Arthur tale at Warner Bros., envisioned as a tentpole fantasy epic that would ambitiously span six feature films.  There’s no telling if the franchise will indeed stretch to six films, but Warner Bros. has announced a July 22, 2016 release date for the first step, the Ritchie-helmed King Arthur. [hit the jump to continue]

This project was based on a treatment by Warren Ellis (author of must-read comic series "Transmetropolitan" and "Planetary" among others).  Screenwriter John Hodge (Trainspotting) is working with Ritchie on a script for the film which will be “a re-imagining of the legend of Arthur,” and use Sir Thomas Mallory’s "Le Morte d’Arthur" as a primary source. However, Ellis said that his treatment, “differs from the prior King Arthur movies in many ways, but perhaps most obviously in that it is specifically about the gathering of the Knights.” 

CASTING
Charlie Hunnam, who is known for his role in the hit series "Sons of Anarchy", who also starred in "Pacific Rim", and was the actor who turned down the lead role for the "Fifty Shades of Grey" film adaptation, is set to star as Arthur. Astrid Berges-Frisbey (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) is onboard to play Guinevere. Jude Law is currently in talks to play the villain, which will bring him back to work with Ritchie once again. Idris Elba was previously in talks to play Arthur’s mentor in the film, but Variety notes that a deal could not be reached and the two sides parted ways.  This is the last major role to be cast before the film starts production, so Ritchie is currently meeting with actors for the part.

DEVELOPMENT
Warner Bros. has been developing a King Arthur epic for some time, and the studio came extremely close a couple of years ago with David Dobkin (The Change-Up, The Judge) at the helm, and Kit Harington and Joel Kinnaman in the leads.  But just as production was looking to gear up, the studio pulled the plug over budget concerns, and it’s been in limbo ever since.

Ritchie, on the other hand, has been keen on making a King Arthur film for years, and it appears that the stars have aligned and he’ll be bringing the project to fruition at Warner Bros. Looks like that third Sherlock Holmes movie would have less chances of getting made since Ritchie will be having his hands full of this project.

In a related story, director Sylvain White (The Losers) was in negotiations to direct another Knights of the Round Table film project entitled "Pendragon".  Meanwhile, there’s also Bryan Singer’s separate Excalibur project which would be a remake of John Boorman’s 1981 King Arthur film "Excalibur".