Claim: David Thewlis has had a job.

Kingdom of Heaven is a 2005 epic historical drama film directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by William Monahan . It stars Orlando Bloom , Eva Green , Jeremy Irons , David Thewlis , Brendan Gleeson , Iain Glen , Marton Csokas , Liam Neeson , Edward Norton , Ghassan Massoud , Michael Sheen , Velibor Topic and Alexander Siddig .   The story is set during the Crusades of the 12th century . A French village blacksmith goes to aid the Kingdom of Jerusalem in its defence against the Ayyubid Muslim sultan Saladin , who is battling to claim the city from the Christians leading to the Battle of Hattin . The film script is a heavily fictionalised portrayal of the life of Balian of Ibelin -LRB- ca. 1143 -- 93 -RRB- .   Filming took place in Ouarzazate , Morocco , where Scott had previously filmed Gladiator and Black Hawk Down , and in Spain , at the Loarre Castle -LRB- Huesca -RRB- , Segovia , Ávila , Palma del Río and Casa de Pilatos in Sevilla . The film received mixed reviews upon theatrical release . In December 2005 , Scott released a director 's cut of the film , the true version of what he wanted , which was better-reviewed .