As he gathers the cast he needs to launch what he hopes will be a series of King Arthur films, Guy Ritchie has thus far been focused on the heroes, such as Charlie Hunnam playing the title character and Astrid Berges-Frisbey set as Guinevere. He’s now looking to the villainous side of things, hiring his old** Sherlock Holmes** collaborator Jude Law to play the first film’s big bad.
Much of what this initial Arthur adventure will specifically be about remains a mystery, so we don’t yet known how deeply it’ll delve into issues such as Excalibur or the love triangle between the king, his wife and Lancelot. And there’s no indication as to which character Law might be playing – Mordred? – whether he’ll be just in this first film or be a Voldemort-style menace for the entire planned franchise.
There is bad news on the casting front to relate, though, as Variety reports that Idris Elba will no longer be playing Arthur’s mentor. Which means if an apocalypse happens along there will be no one around to cancel it. Shame.
Joby Harold came up with the overarching idea and wrote the first script with Akiva Goldsman and Tory Tunnell involved as producers behind the scenes. Ritchie is taking aim at a July 22, 2016 release date. Law will next be seen diving beneath the waves for sub thriller Black Sea, which pings our cinematic radar on December 5.