Warner Bros. Pictures' upcoming film slate for 2017 includes more shared universe installments (not all of them of the DC superhero variety), as well as a potential franchise starter in the form of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. The King Arthur retelling is co-written and directed by Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) and stars Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim) as a young Arthur - who, in this version of the legend, has been living for years as a member of a street gang, when he then pulls Excalibur from the stone and discovers the truth about his noble destiny.
Legend of the Sword has gone through a couple of significant release date changes over the past two years, but now the movie is finally set to reach theaters this upcoming May. WB premiered the first theatrical trailer for the King Arthur adaptation back at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con last summer - and now, several months and one extended TV spot later, has finally released a second (and possibly final) theatrical trailer for Ritchie's medieval fantasy adventure, too.
The second trailer for Legend of the Sword is heavier on the fantasy-driven spectacle and plot elements of the film than its predecessor, but still paints Ritchie's King Arthur movie as being an origin story for the eponymous man who would be king. Said trailer offers a quick run-through of the story beats that set the film in motion too, including the death of Arthur's parents (with Eric Bana portraying Arthur's father) and Arthur's eventual discovery of his true destiny, when the famous sword in the stone reappears after (apparently, decades) of lying beneath the ocean near the shore.
Legend of the Sword certainly has the look of a medieval superhero adventure that has been loaded with flashy action sequences and effects-heavy set pieces. Ritchie co-wrote the film with Joby Harold, a screenwriter who is also putting a "superhero" spin on another classic folklore hero, with his script for next year's Robin Hood: Origins. While Legend of the Sword doesn't look to skimp on the spectacle and can go toe-to-toe with other "superhero" movies coming out this year in that department, the narrative elements here seem less innovative and more perfunctory - at least in this new trailer, anyway.
WB may no longer be holding out hope that Legend of the Sword kicks-off a six part King Arthur saga (as was once reported to be the plan), but the film's subtitle indicates the studio is still banking on moviegoers liking Ritchie's version of the Arthurian universe - enough so for the studio to justify moving forward with a second installment, based on the box office returns. On the other hand, WB hasn't exactly been pulling out all the stops to market Legend of the Sword up to now and may be instead preparing for the film to perform closer to Ritchie's Man from U.N.C.LE. at the box office, rather than his Sherlock Holmes movies. Legend of the Sword hits theaters one week after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, so that won't help its commercial prospects either.
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Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
