‘Sons Of Anarchy’ Star Charlie Hunnam’s ‘Knights Of The Roundtable: King Arthur’ Pushed To February 2017

Charlie Hunnam fans are going to have wait a little bit longer to see the Sons of Anarchy star in his new role as King Arthur. According to Entertainment Weekly, the release of Guy Ritchie’s Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur has officially been delayed by a good six months.

The movie was originally set to open in theaters on July 22, 2016. Now, because of a competing release, the film has been bumped back to a February 17, 2017, premiere, per an announcement from Warner Bros.

Hunnam, who became famous for his part in the hit biker drama Sons of Anarchy, will be playing the lead in Ritchie’s newest film. With Hunnam set to play the part of a young Arthur, Ritchie has revealed that his version on the classic tale is going to be very different than anything that has previously been done.

“Our King Arthur is not a good guy from the beginning,” Ritchie explained in an interview with EW.

Given Hunnam’s past work on Sons of Anarchy playing a troubled hero who can’t quite escape his life of violence, it is definitely going to be interesting to see his take on Arthur. If Charlie Hunnam brings the same passion and intensity to his new role as he did with Jax Teller on SoA, then fans can certainly expect a grittier version of the iconic hero.

As far as Ritchie is concerned, the acclaimed director is known for his previous success in the crime genre, with movies like Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch. More recently, Ritchie has been the force behind the reboot of the Sherlock Holmes franchise, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, in which he added a certain flair for action to the famous detective.

Aside from being a little more abrasive than past version of King Arthur, it is clear that Ritchie’s interpretation will include a criminal element to Arthur. This should work out great for Hunnam, who is more than comfortable playing a conflicted a hero.

Meanwhile, the reason why Warner Bros. decided to push back the release date for Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur was to avoid competing against Star Trek Beyond, which Paramount is planning on releasing in the summer of 2016. This move will likely benefit the box office numbers for Ritchie’s film, especially given how popular the Star Trek reboot has been.

With Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur being pushed back to a new release date, Hunnam and company will be battling it out with Bad Boys 3 and The Maze Runner: The Death Cure in the box office. Whether or not the movie does well against its new set of competition is yet to be seen.

According to Ace Showbiz, there is another reason why Warner Bros. has a lot riding on Ritchie’s movie. In fact, the film is set to be the first movie in a planned franchise centering around the tales of the famous knights, which means the studio needs it to be a success in the box office if it wants to further fund the franchise.

In addition to Hunnam leading the pack, the movie is set to feature Jude Law, Katie McGrath, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Djimon Hounsou, Annabelle Wallis, Eric Bana, and Mikael Persbrandt.

In order to fill in the gap left by the recent shuffle, Warner Bros. has bumped up the release of the horror film Lights Out, which is now set to open on July 22, 2016. The film, which stars Teresa Palmer and is directed by David F. Sandberg, was originally set to open on September 9.

Tell us! Are you disappointed you will have to wait even longer in order to see Charlie Hunnam in Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur? Let us know in the comments below.

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty]