Somebody in the halls of Warner Brothers must've come up with a sunny accounting report somewhere, because suddenly the studio is taking on a number of projects that once seemed too expensive to ever be considered. For instance, the other day they took on Universal's gargantuan adaptation of The Dark Tower, and now they're bringing back David Dobkin's budget crushing Arthur and Lancelot.
The film was in trouble late last year, with a budget hovering around $100M, a hefty sum that looked even worse since the studio was also dealing with the whole Akira fiasco. Set to star relative unknowns Kit Harington(Game of Thrones) and the newly minted Robocop in Joel Kinnaman, it was officially killed off in January with little hope of ever seeing the light of day. In a surprise move, the studio is once again moving forward, only with Colin Farrell set to star. Whether he'll be Arthur or Lancelot is unclear, but his name alone probably carries enough weight to make this an attractive picture again. If the Total Recall remake turns out to be a hit(doubtful!!), Farrell could find himself at the head of two potential franchises.
A number of unanswered questions remain. Does this mean both Harington and Kinnaman are out? Has the budget been slashed? When will filming begin? It's assumed the March 2013 release date has to be bumped back, but that's not confirmed yet. Will it maintain the same Braveheart tone as before? Or will Dobkin, known for comedies like Wedding Crashers and Fred Claus, tweak it now that production is essentially at square one? [Variety]
