Arthurian legend comes alive and unleashes the power of imagination in the youth in today’s take on the classic tale in the family movie “The Kid Who Would Be King” starring a multigenerational talented cast that includes Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Tom Taylor, Dean Chaumoo, Rhianna Doris and Angus Imrie along with Patrick Stewart and Rebecca Ferguson.
Based on one of the most famous myths of all time, “The Kid Who Would Be King” approaches the legend of King Arthur and his knights in a completely new way, bringing it into the modern world and making it relevant for contemporary audiences.
At the beginning of the movie, when Alex (Serkis) gets punished after trying to save his friend from being bullied, he realizes that however righteous and noble you try to be, the world can still be unjust.”
When he finds the sword in the stone, the books Alex has read about the myth of Excalibur convince him that he’s the once and future king. But possessing the sword doesn’t actually help him that much. Says director Cornish, “It’s not as if the government is suddenly going to acknowledge his position, it’s not as if there isn’t already a royal family. And the immediate obstacle in front of him is to deal with these undead knights that rise up out of the ground and try to take the sword from him. So he’s a perfectly normal kid who’s suddenly thrust into this massive adventure, while also trying to fill the shoes of King Arthur, who himself found Excalibur when Britain was a lost and leaderless place. Part of the Arthurian legend is that, through drawing the sword, he unites the country and turns enemies into allies.”
Says Ashbourne Serkis about his character, “Alex lives with his mum and she can’t really spend that much time with him because she has to work. He’s quite disillusioned because his dad’s left them, and he and his one friend Bedders get bullied at school. He thinks there’s no hope, and life’s not going to get any better – he’s just another nobody kid. But then obviously when he stumbles across the sword everything changes.”
While there have been many films which explore Arthurian legend, Rebecca Ferguson says, “I had never seen the story of Arthur as a modern piece, with up-to-date young kids in hoodies and sneakers, with modern, makeshift armor on top of it. It’s a fantastic mixture of old and new, clashing and complimenting in a way which is lovely.”
“The Kid Who Would Be King” is now showing in cinemas nationwide from 20th Century Fox.
advt.
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