King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
Short description
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword retells the Arthurian legend as an origin story. Arthur grows up in the back streets of Londinium, unaware of his royal parentage. His father, Uther Pendragon, is killed by his own brother Vortigern, who seizes the crown, and the boy is left to make his way among thieves instead of at court. Years later, the sword Excalibur is discovered in a stone, and when Arthur draws it he can no longer ignore the legacy he was denied. He joins the resistance against Vortigern and is drawn into a struggle that is both a fight to free the people and a personal reckoning with the uncle who took everything from him.
Guy Ritchie directed from a screenplay he wrote with Lionel Wigram and Joby Harold, and he produced alongside Akiva Goldsman and Wigram. The film was the director's ninth feature, made between The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Gentlemen, and it stars Charlie Hunnam as Arthur, Jude Law as Vortigern, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey as the Mage, Djimon Hounsou as Bedivere, Eric Bana as Uther Pendragon and Aidan Gillen as William "Goosefat Bill". Its credited cast numbers 67 and its credited crew 167.
The production was expensive and heavily marketed, yet it proved a costly disappointment. Against a budget of 175 million USD it earned about 149 million USD worldwide. Audience response was lukewarm rather than hostile: 6.7/10 on IMDb from 246,000 votes and 6.6/10 on TMDB from 6,192 votes. Film critics were harsher, giving it 4.8/10 across 277 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- Henry Cavill and Jai Courtney auditioned for the role of King Arthur.
- Felicity Jones, Elizabeth Olsen, and Alicia Vikander auditioned for the role that Astrid Bergès-Frisbey eventually got.
- Initially, director David Dobkin attempted to make a version with Keith Harrington as King Arthur and Joel Kinnaman as Lancelot, but the film was deemed too expensive, and the actors – too unknown. Colin Farrell was then proposed for the role of King Arthur, and Gary Oldman was invited to play Merlin, but this version also failed to develop.
- Katie McGrath, who plays Elsa in the film, previously appeared in the series “Merlin” based on the same legend of King Arthur, where she played the role of Morgana.
- This is the third collaboration between Guy Ritchie and Jude Law, who plays King Vortigern in the film. Previously, Ritchie and Law worked together on two parts of “Sherlock Holmes,” where Law played Dr. Watson.
- Three countries within the United Kingdom served as filming locations for the movie – Wales, Scotland, and England.
- The film crew needed six months to obtain permission from the Welsh Ministry of Natural Resources to create an artificial burial mound for King Uther Pendragon on the territory of Gwern Gof Isaf National Park.
- Nine giant sets were built on the grounds of Warner Bros. Leavesden Studios for the film – the streets of underground Londinium; a bustling harbor of the city; exterior and interior shots of the main castle of Camelot – the main tower of King Vortigern's domain; a gigantic cave housing two locations at once: the underground lair of the sirens and Bedivere’s forest cave; as well as a pair of exquisite interiors of the royal castle.
- The armor of King Uther Pendragon, which actor Eric Bana wore every shooting day, weighed 18 kg.
- 40 Excaliburs were created for the film – 10 ‘real’ metal swords and 30 lightweight plastic ones.
- A 60-meter bridge to Camelot was built specifically for filming. The structure was designed not only to be beautiful, but also truly robust – up to 10 horse riders in heavy armor would gallop across the bridge at full speed simultaneously each day.
- 108 gas cylinders were used to ignite the three funeral pyres during filming. The pyres themselves were so enormous that they had to be extinguished with a special helicopter after shooting.
- 130 trained horses were used in filming the main battle scene of the movie.
- Even during filming, Charlie Hunnam had to work out to stay in shape.
- Charlie Hunnam promised: "I'll be in incredible shape for this film." He also added: "I'm going to do five hundred push-ups every day to be like those guys who do."
- Idris Elba was reportedly considered for the role of Merlin without a doubt. But it turned out to be just a rumor, and Elba commented on it as follows: "Unfortunately, I'm not involved in the film. It was a rumor that turned out to be untrue. But I wish the guys success."
- To depict the "street" style of combat for his character, Charlie Hunnam studied techniques and watched numerous fights on YouTube of Irish mixed martial artist Conor McGregor, who performs under the auspices of the UFC. According to the actor, he watched his interviews and fights for hours, as he considered McGregor a suitable and interesting model for his hero.
- Initially, the film was going to be called "Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur."
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