Guy Ritchie May Lead 6-Film King Arthur Franchise

It seems every time Warner Bros. tries to get a King Arthur movie going, it never quite pans out. Bryan Singer had been developing an Excalibur remake some years ago, and David Dobkin's Arthur & Lancelot crashed due to massive costs. But at around the same time as Singer was planning his film, Guy Ritchie was also eying an Excalibur film that never came to be, either. Apparently undaunted, the studio and Ritchie may be giving it another go, only in a greatly increased format.

According to Deadline, Ritchie and Warner Bros. are considering a new adaptation of the Arthurian tale, a "tentpole fantasy retelling" that could span up to six movies, making it quite the epic franchise and probably a risky investment. Joby Harold  wrote the script for the first film in the series, and it sounds like this will be very different from the 2004 King Arthur movie that starred Clive Owen and Keira Knightley. Anybody remember that one? No? It made $200M but nobody remembers it.

Anyway, we'll see how this one shakes out. Given Warner Bros.' history with the material it's probably a good idea not to get any hopes up.