King Arthur in Hollywood
King Arthur the Movie
Director:
Antoine Fuqua
Screenwriters:
David Franzoni,
John Lee Hancock
Distributed by:
Touchstone Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: Postproduction must be going quite smoothly,
because after originally scheduling this movie for December 25th, 2004,
Touchstone has instead decided to bump it *up* five months to a five-day
weekend starting on Wednesday, July 7th, 2004.
Marketing: Based on a more realistic portrayal of "Arthur" than has ever been
presented onscreen. The film will focus on the history and politics of
the period during which Arthur ruled -- when the Roman empire collapsed
and skirmishes over power broke out in outlying countries -- as opposed
to the mystical elements of the tale on which past Arthur films have
focused.
Reality: Loosely based upon descendants
of Lucius
Artorius Castus, a prefect of the Roman VI Legion Victrix, who commanded Roman and Sarmatian troops
near Hadrian's Wall during the Pictish uprisings. The movie covers the legend as a period
piece, Romans fighting Picts in a time when the North of Britain became
a fiery land and Picts and Scot raiders poured across the borders. Of
course, all of the legend characters are there (including those added to
the legends by later writers and adapters). Think of shoving 3 centuries
of characters onto the back of one man and one unit of Roman cavalry. At
least the action looks good. I believe that this will remain a standard
popcorn movie, not satisfying any of the Arthurian purists or even those
who believe Arthur did exist, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Cast: Clive
Owen (Arthur, AKA Arturius), Stephen
Dillane (Merlin), Keira
Knightley (Guinevere), Hugh
Dancy (Galahad), Ioan
Gruffudd (Lancelot), Stellan
Skarsgaard (Cedric), Ray
Winstone (Bors), Valeria
Cavalli (Fulcinia), Charlie
Creed-Miles (Ganis), Joel
Edgerton (Gawain), Sean
Gilder (Jols), Pat Kinevane (Horton), Ivano
Marescotti (Bishop Germanius), Mads
Mikkelsen (Tristram), Til
Schweiger (Cynric), Ray
Stevenson (Dagonet), Ken
Stott (Marius Honorius); other cast not announced yet.
