This is not the Excalibur remake that Bryan Singer (Superman Returns) is set to work on.. that is if he can get to it. The guy’s got X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, JACK AND THE GIANT KILLER and also BATTLESTAR GALACTICA in the bag. So no, this isn’t about Singer’s EXCALIBUR.. this is about the EXCALIBUR to be directed by Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes) who is expected to start filming SHERLOCK HOLMES 2 later this year…. Read the rest of this entry »
Recently it was announced that the Superman Returns and X-Men director Bryan Singer was going to helm BATTLESTAR GALACTICA the movie but that’s not the only thing on his plate. According to Variety and Hollywood Reporter, WB with Singer are producing and developing the EXCALIBUR Remake and Singer will direct.
They have locked in the deal after months trying to work the rights with John Boorman who helmed the 1981 version starring Hellen Mirren and Gabriel Byrne and Liam Neeson.
The original version was adapted from the Thomas Malory book was about King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable, from “the young man who draws the sword Excalibur from a stone, is mentored by Merlin, establishes Camelot, loses his wife, Guenevere, to his best friend, Lancelot, and engages in the quest for the Holy Grail”
The remake will be a more epic and fantasy version than the 2004 King Arthur starring Clive Owen. No writers have been hired yet.
The weird thing is.. the world first heard about this remake from Comic writer Warren Ellis but it’s uncertain now if he’s involved either in this one or another take on the same story.
The report went on to say that Singer is also flirting with the project X-Men: First Class but he might not return to X-Men Universe for now, however, EXCALIBUR is not going to be his next gig because he’s in talks to direct JACK THE GIANT KILLER which is a riff on the Jack and the Beanstalk legend developed by New Line, written by Darren Lemke and Mark Bomback and producer Neal Moritz, it’s about a young farmer who leads a rescue mission into the land of the giants to recover a kidnapped princess.
Comic writer Warren Ellis didn’t get to make a certain announcement at the Comic-Con, so left it for his blog,
“I’m writing a film treatment for Hollywood Gang, who co-produced Frank Miller’s 300. Hollywood Gang have previously optioned my graphic novel (with Chris Sprouse) OCEAN.
On my desk, the treatment is called Untitled Arthurian Project.
On their desk, the project is called EXCALIBUR.
I’m working directly with Gianni Nunnari, Oliver Kramer and Craig Flores (whom I was delighted to bump into on the Warner’s lot the other day) and having a great time.”
The 1981 version starring Helen Mirren, the 2004 Clive Owen movie, and I remember the crappy 2007 movie Last Legion, and many other takes on King Arthur and his legendary sword. I’m not a huge fan of any of them. Either the myth has been so played out or there hasn’t been one really really cool portrayal, but I guess I’m open to something stylized and action-packed like 300
Ellis talked to AICN about what he had in mind..
“differs from the prior 751 King Arthur movies in many ways, but perhaps most obviously in that it is very specifically about the gathering of the Knights.”
