Idris Elba may Train 'King Arthur'; Michael Caine Joins 'The Last Witch Hunter'; Jeff Bridges Heads to 'Antwerp'

Idris Elba may be reuniting with his Rocknrolla director Guy Ritchie for King Arthur, taking on a Merlin-esque role in the film. Variety reports Elba is in talks to be the first official cast member, while testing for the role of Arthur is to officially begin next week. King Arthur has already been set to hit theaters on July 22nd 2016.

A movie starring Vin Diesel and titled The Last Witch Hunter probably doesn't seem like the type to court Oscar winners, but it has one anyway with the addition of Michael Caine. He joins Diesel and Rose Leslie in the film directed by Breck Eisner and centering on an immortal witch hunter who teams up with a female witch to stop an evil coven from destroying humanity. 

And finally, Jeff Bridges is said to be in negotiations to star in Antwerp, a heist movie J.J. Abrams has been developing for years since optioning the rights to Joshua Davis' Wired article, “The Untold Story of the World’s Biggest Diamond Heist." Doug Jung (Confidence, a film I like but apparently nobody else did) has written the latest script which tells the story of a 2003 burglary in Antwerp, Belgium that was dubbed the "heist of the century". [The Tracking Board]

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Guy Ritchie's 'King Arthur' Gets Summer 2016 Release Date

It looks like Warner Bros. has found their guy to finally get a King Arthur project off the ground. A few months ago we learned Guy Ritchie was eying it as the start of a potential six-film franchise, and now it looks like those plans are a go as Variety reports King Arthur will open in 3D on July 22nd 2016.

Ritchie will direct based on a Joby Harold script, but the exact approach they'll take is being kept a secret for now. Warner Bros. had been close to another King Arthur film helmed by David Dobkin. They got so far as casting Kit Harington and Joel Kinnaman as the leads, until cold feet over the budget caused them to pull the plug.

No word on when production would begin, but as of now the July date is free of any competition. Ritchie recently wrapped The Man from UNCLE, also for Warner Bros., which is due to open in January 2015.

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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.

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