Comic-Con in San Diego is known for dropping trailers, and today, the King Arthur: Legend of the Sword trailer featuring Sons of Anarchy’s Charlie Hunnam was released. The epic King Arthur movie, directed by Guy Ritchie, stars Hunnam as King Arthur in a rather gritty portrayal of the medieval king. Although set in medieval times, the movie has almost a modernistic feel, similar to Game of Thrones , and even features “Go-Pro action” scenes as seen at the beginning of the trailer when Hunnam and some other characters are running through the streets from an unseen threat. Deadline Hollywood described the King Arthur movie as “ Game of Thrones filtered through Green Street Hooligans,” and that Medieval England (in the movie) looks like a “cross between the Victorian Era and the 1960s.”
The man behind the myth. Charlie Hunnam stars in Guy Ritchie’s #KingArthur : Legend of the Sword. pic.twitter.com/JsHPdMjZPm
— Warner Bros. UK (@WarnerBrosUK) July 22, 2016
This style is Ritchie’s trademark, as seen in his Sherlock Holmes films and other films, and it works well in this trailer. The trailer shows King Arthur as he draws the sword from the stone, although it seems that he is a very reluctant king, but he also seems to be a darker King Arthur than in previous films about the legendary king. In this film, Hunnam’s Arthur seems not too unlike his character, Jax Teller, in Sons of Anarchy . The song in the trailer also sounds as if it was lifted from the Sons of Anarchy soundtrack. In this film, Arthur is “raised on the streets,” again, much like Jax Teller. King Arthur also lives in a brothel, and Jax Teller owned a brothel. However, in this film, Arthur is not a pimp, he just lives in a brothel. Hunnam does get to use his natural British accent in this film, however, which is a real treat!
Charlie Hunnam was great as Jax Teller. He will be greater as King Arthur. Of this I am very sure! pic.twitter.com/ILZA9WC1GW
— Rita (@Ritztarits5172) July 23, 2016
Geeks of Doom reported that Hunnam told fans at SDCC that because the story of Arthur has been told over and over that “you need to have something unique,” which pretty much sums up the feel of the movie and Arthur’s character in this film. Because Arthur was raised on the streets in this movie, he at first rejects his destiny when he pulls Excalibur from the stone, but finds that he can’t deny it. Hunnam said he “tried not to think about being the legendary character too much and took guidance from director Guy Ritchie.”
Entertainment Weekly says that the new King Arthur will be a “kicka** action hero,” and spoke with both Ritchie and Hunnam about the film. Ritchie told EW that he knew he needed to make a few changes in the story.
“I think where the pitfall has often been is trying to make King Arthur bland and nice, and nice and bland,” Ritchie said. “The two qualities make rather compatible bed companions. Unfortunately, they’re not interesting to watch.”
“Luke Skywalker was always the most uninteresting character in Star Wars because he’s the good guy. Good guys are boring.”
As for Hunnam’s role, the actor said, “He’s a little bit rough around the edges, but he’s basically a survivor. He’s a hustler.”
“He’s a street kid. There’s definitely a harder edge to him than people would imagine. It’s sort of classic Guy Ritchie stuff.”
Charlie Hunnam signs autographs at #SDCC . #WBSDCC #KingArthur pic.twitter.com/nmyXzYr01p
— King Arthur (@kingarthurmovie) July 23, 2016
The movie has an impressive cast, starting with Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes) as Vortigern, Aidan Gillen ( Game of Thrones ) as Goosefat Bill, Annabelle Wallis ( Annabelle, X-Men: First Class) as Maid Maggie, Katie McGrath ( The Tudors, Merlin ) as Elsa, Tom Wu ( Skyfall, Red 2 ) as George, Djimon Hounsou ( Blood Diamond, Guardians of the Galaxy ) as Sir Bedivere, and Eric Bana ( Hanna, Deliver Us From Evil ) as Uther Pendragon. Legendary soccer star David Beckham even has a role in the King Arthur movie as a “Blackleg leader,” according to the Hollywood News . According to a source from THN, Beckham will be in the scene where Arthur extracts Excalibur from the stone, and “some football puns” will be written into David’s scene.
First pics of Guy Ritchie’s KING ARTHUR movie https://t.co/bhjN6oX5ct pic.twitter.com/8je7ZMTw0U
— CH Entertainment (@CritHitEnt) July 18, 2016
The Warner Brothers film, which was originally titled Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur , was to be released in March, 2017. However, the date has been pushed up and will appear in theaters February, 2017.
[Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Images]