Warner Bros.' ‘Knights of the Roundtable’: King Arthur Casts ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Star Charlie Hunnam in Titular Role
Charlie Hunnam, 34, best known for portraying Jax Teller in the FX series Sons of Anarchy and Raleigh Beckett in the science fiction film Pacific Rim, has been cast in the title role in Warner Bros.' Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur.
To be directed by Guy Ritchie from a screenplay by Joby Harold, Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur is the first of a planned series of six films based on the legend of King Arthur and his Camelot. Set to hit theaters on July 22, 2016, Ritchie's take on the medieval saga, according to Empire Online, could be "very much based on Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur, the 15th Century text that assembled most of the popular tales of Arthur (the Knights of the Round Table, the Holy Grail, Merlin, Gareth, Lancelot and Guinevere, Arthur's battles with Rome, Tristan and Isolde and so on) into a single narrative."
Aside from Hunnam, also confirmed to be in the cast are Eric Bana as Artur's father Uther Pendragon, Astrid Berges-Frisbey as Guinevere, Djimon Hounsou as Merlin, Mikael Persbrandt as Kjartan and Jude Law in a still undisclosed villain role.
Lionel Wigram, Akiva Goldsman, Tory Tunnell with screenplay writer Harold are producing. Principal photography started February this year at Leavesden Studios in London.
Hunnam is also slated to be seen on the big-screen when Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak is released to theaters beginning October 16. He co-stars with Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, and Jessica Chastain in what the director described as "a very set-oriented, classical but at the same time modern take on the ghost story." The film's premise, as gathered by Cinema Nerdz states: "In the aftermath of a family tragedy, a young author is torn between the love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds...and remembers." Hunnam plays the character of Dr. Alan McMichael, described in the casting call as a "quiet, shy, thoughtful kind of stoic, taciturn, very learned guy who is madly in love with the female hero."