Charlie Hunnam to Play KING ARTHUR in Guy Ritchie’s Medieval Saga
Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam already has a gargantuan Warner Bros. franchise on his hands with Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim 2 stomping into theaters in April 2017. Now Hunnam is in final negotiations with the studio to star as King Arthur in a medieval saga intended to span six films — by the end of both franchises, I believe Hunnam will legally be a Warner brother, right? Hunnam emerged as director Guy Ritchie’s choice for the part, beating out the likes of Jai Courtney and Henry Cavill who both recently read for the role. The latter of whom just worked with Ritchie on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
While Deadline broke the news about Hunnam earlier today, Variety is also reporting that Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla, Avengers: Age of Ultron) is the frontrunner for the female lead. We’re assuming her role would be that of Guinevere. Idris Elba, who worked with Ritchie on RocknRolla back in 2008 and co-starred in the first Pacific Rim with Hunnam, was previously in talks to play a character named Bedivere, the right-hand man to Arthur's father — who may or may not be Merlin.
There arere no updates on Elba’s involvement in the project, plot details are still under wraps, and the name Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur that was previously used in reports was absent in both the Variety and Deadline pieces. So there’s still plenty we don’t know about the project was that was conceived and scripted by Joby Harold, who will also produce alongside Akiva Goldsman and Tory Tunnell. We do know, however, that the Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow tentpole is set to open July 22, 2016. Unless you have Merlin's crystal ball, that's all you get for now.