Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: the Arthurian legend seen by Guy Ritchie.
In 2010, Warner Bros. announces a new film project based on the legend of King Arthur, which would set itself apart from previous film adaptations of Thomas Malory’s stories.
Haloed by the success of the two adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the director Guy Ritchie is thus chosen to stage this blockbuster at the crossroads of Scams, crimes and botany and the Lord of the Rings.
In 2014, Warner Bros. decides to create a franchise of six feature films, of which King Arthur: The Legend of Excalibur would be the first part. But, behind the scenes, things are not so obvious. The screenplay is built on several successive versions, written by different authors (John Hodge, Joby Harold, David Dobkin, then Lionel Wigram), so that the film is mostly made live on the set.
During the first test screening, Guy Ritchie is disappointed with Annabelle Wallis’ performance. Reluctantly, he removes a good part of the plot related to his character. Post-production drags on: rewrites are organised, and with them the inevitable reshoots. From an original edit of 3 hours, the final version reaches 1:50. But Warner continues to write the checks hoping to recover its costs once the film is finished.
King Arthur: The Legend of Excalibur was finally released in theaters in 2017. Shunned by the public, it brought in “only” $148 million worldwide – a far cry from the $175 million budget and marketing costs estimated at around $80 million. Faced with this bitter failure, Warner abandoned the idea of a franchise.
King Arthur: The Legend of Excalibur by Guy Ritchie with Charlie Hunnam, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Jude Law…
Tonight on TMC at 9:10 p.m.