Once upon a time, the idea of competing projects for major studios was a no-no. Then Deep Impact and Armageddon came along and effectively canceled each other out. The lesson learned in that case was: it doesn’t really matter if another movie embracing the same subject matter is also in development, it only matters if it’s better. So, that being said, yet another King Arthur movie has now appeared on the industry radar to rival Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Knights Of The Roundtable.
Deadline broke the news by announcing that Jonathan Liebesman, the director behind 2014’s Turtles reboot and Terminator: Rise Of The Machines, is in line to direct Man At Arms. Thunder Road Pictures’ Basil Iwanyk (The Expendables) is producing with Aperture Entertainment’s Adam Goldworm (The Last Witch Hunter) and Bryan Brucks (Scouts Vs. Zombies). Erica Lee will executive produce.
Whether Liebesman’s got the chops to go up against another competitor is one outcome we’ll have to wait a while to discover. When it comes to the box office though, his impressive track record will no doubt way heavily in his favor.
Described as reminiscent of Clint Eastwood’s classic western Unforgiven, the film “follows Sir Lancelot as an older man who is bent on making amends after his love for Guinevere (and hers for him) ended up destroying Arthur’s Camelot.” Granted, it might be infringing upon the same character and themes as Ritchie’s version, but this story is mined from the latter part of Arthur’s legend.
Regardless, Jeremy Lott – who wrote the Man At Arms script – is seemingly stoking the competitive fires. In addition to scripting this Arthurian rival, he’s also co-writing Hood over at Sony with Cory Goodman based on the adventures of Nottingham’s favorite outlaw, Robin Hood. In an interesting twist – or coincidental happening – Joby Harold, who penned Ritchie’s King Arthur flick is ALSO writing a Robin Hood origin movie which Lionsgate just snatched up.