The King's Daughter (2022 film)

The King's Daughter is a 2022 American action-adventure fantasy film directed by Sean McNamara from a screenplay by Barry Berman and James Schamus. It is based on the 1997 novel The Moon and the Sun by Vonda N. McIntyre. The film stars Pierce Brosnan as King Louis XIV, Kaya Scodelario as Marie-Josèphe, and Benjamin Walker as Yves De La Croix. This film marks William Hurt's final film and released performance before his death in March 2022.
Principal photography began in early April 2014 in Versailles, France. After the two-week shoot in France, production then began on April 23 in Melbourne, Australia. Shooting wrapped up at the end of May 2014. 
Originally intended to be released in April 2015, the film was delayed just three weeks prior in order to complete post-production effects. It sat in limbo for over five years, until the distribution rights were acquired by Gravitas Ventures, which theatrically released it on January 21, 2022. 
== Plot ==
A young woman named Marie-Josèphe, who was born and raised in a convent in France, is a rebellious free spirit who often causes trouble for the Abbess. Marie-Josèphe's father, King Louis XIV, fears for his own mortality after being wounded by an assassin's bullet, but is told by Dr. Labarthe about a special underwater creature with magical powers that can grant him immortality. Louis sends a group of fishermen, led by Captain Yves De La Croix, to capture the creature, a Mermaid. Her mate is also caught, but Yves simply releases him before heading back to France.
Labarthe tells Louis that the procedure to make him immortal involves cutting out the Mermaid's heart during an eclipse. The only one against this is Father François La Chaise. Per the King's request, La Chaise travels to the convent to bring Marie-Josèphe back, giving her the impression that she is traveling to play music in Versailles. Upon arriving in Versailles, Marie-Josèphe befriends a servant named Magali, but everyone else doesn't know she is the King's daughter.
The following morning, Louis meets with Jean-Michel Lintillac, son of a wealthy baron. Lintillac tells Louis that his father is gravely ill and ready to pass on. Louis discusses with La Chaise that Lintillac stands to inherit a fortune, and passing down his father's title would benefit everyone. While out for a stroll with Magali, Marie-Josèphe meets Yves and is smitten. She also encounters Lintillac and her father for the first time, though he still doesn't tell her about his relation to her.
The Mermaid is brought into a chamber beneath the castle. Later, as Marie-Josèphe tries to practice in her room, she senses a strange vibration and follows the noise to the Mermaid's prison, where she encounters both the creature and Yves. At a grand ball the next day, Marie-Josèphe shares a dance with Louis, and later finds him outside painting a picture of a woman called Louise, telling Marie-Josèphe that she reminds him of her.
Louis appoints Lintillac with the title of Duke, and later holds a dinner in his honor. After the dinner, Marie-Josèphe visits the Mermaid again and goes underwater to be closer to her. Yves later takes Marie-Josèphe to ride horses, but she falls off and severely breaks her arm; Labarthe states that the arm will need to be amputated. Yves brings Marie-Josèphe and Magali to the Mermaid and places Marie-Josèphe in the water, where the Mermaid completely heals Marie-Josèphe's arm. Marie-Josèphe assumes that Louis has brought the Mermaid to France to heal the citizens from sicknesses, but she is told that the Mermaid is for the King's purpose only. She later walks around the courtyard with Yves, and the two share a kiss.
Louis arranges for Lintillac to marry Marie-Josèphe so that they can share in Lintillac's fortune. He comes clean to Marie-Josèphe about him being her father and then tells her that he wants her to marry Lintillac. She refuses and runs away crying, leaving Louis feeling remorseful.
La Chaise goes to visit the Mermaid and, realizing she is a sentient being, he confronts Labarthe and Louis, but both refuse to change their mind. Marie-Josèphe goes to see the Mermaid, who shows her a telepathic vision of her capture. Meanwhile, Yves slips a picture of the procedure under Marie-Josèphe's door, alerting her to the King's true plans for the Mermaid. She confronts Louis, telling him that she will marry Lintillac if he lets the mermaid go, but he refuses to honor her wishes. As everyone prepares for the wedding, La Chaise and Marie-Josèphe go to the chamber, where Yves is also trying to get the Mermaid out. They are found by Labarthe, but they fight him off to give the Mermaid time to escape. Labarthe shoots Yves, who falls into the water and is taken along by the fleeing Mermaid. Marie-Josèphe gets Labarthe caught in a water wheel that pulls him underwater, drowning him.
Marie-Josèphe makes it to the side of a cliff where she has promised to rendezvous with Yves and his crew, and finds Yves healed by the Mermaid. Louis and his men arrive and prepare to kill the Mermaid as the eclipse approaches, but giving him the choice to save either his own life or hers, Marie-Josèphe jumps off the cliff and hits the water hard enough to injure her severely. Louis has no choice but to tell his men to stand down so that the Mermaid can revive Marie-Josèphe. Louis watches Marie-Josèphe and Yves leave, and the Mermaid swims home. La Chaise tells Louis he is now a great king and a great man.
In the epilogue, Marie-Josèphe and Yves sail to find the city of Atlantis so that Marie-Josèphe may reunite with the Mermaid, and she takes her underwater to see the city up close.
== Cast ==
* Pierce Brosnan as King Louis XIV
* Kaya Scodelario as Marie-Josèphe
* Benjamin Walker as Yves De La Croix
* William Hurt as Père La Chaise
* Rachel Griffiths as Abbess
* Fan Bingbing as the Mermaid
* Ben Lloyd-Hughes as Jean-Michel Lintillac
* Paul Ireland as Benoit
* Pablo Schreiber as Dr. Labarthe
* Crystal Clarke as Magali
* Julie Andrews as Narrator
* Earl Gough as the Horseman
== Production ==
The film is based on the 1997 novel The Moon and the Sun, written by Vonda N. McIntyre. The earliest development for the film began in 1999, when producer Michael London planned to acquire filming rights. He said he was drawn to "the weird juxtaposition (of) a completely imagined creature in this very specific historical world". London proposed the film to The Jim Henson Company, who would release the film through their film company, Jim Henson Pictures. Theatre director Christopher Renshaw signed on to direct, while Laura Harrington would write the screenplay with McIntyre's involvement. Stephanie Allain and Kristine Belson signed on as executive producers for Jim Henson Pictures. Following Sony terminating their joint venture with The Jim Henson Company, thus ending Jim Henson Pictures, production was shelved until film producer Bill Mechanic joined production and revived the film with Walt Disney Pictures after signing a five-year deal with the company in December 2001. Mechanic planned for the film to start pre-production in early 2002, with Natalie Portman to star, James Schamus to revise the script, and Gregory Hoblit to possibly direct. The Jim Henson Company would also remain as a producer.
In August 2013, it was announced that Sean McNamara would direct the film. The casting included Pierce Brosnan as King Louis XIV, Fan Bingbing as the mermaid, and Bill Nighy as Père De La Chaise, a character created for the movie. Nighy pulled out of the film due to a scheduling conflict and was replaced by William Hurt weeks before filming. Mechanic, still remaining on the film, had also revised the script with Barry Berman and Ronald Bass. The Chinese film company Kylin Films invested $20.5 million in the movie, making it China's biggest financial contribution to a non-studio film produced outside China. In June 2020, it was announced that Julie Andrews would narrate the film.
Principal photography on The Moon and the Sun began in early April 2014 on location at the Palace of Versailles, France. After the two-week shoot in France, production moved to Australia for shooting at Docklands Studios Melbourne and on location in Melbourne, Victoria. Filming commenced on April 23 in and around Melbourne Docklands. From May 6 to 8, filming took place at the Melbourne City Marina on the tall ship Enterprize for scenes set on board a ship in the Northern Sea on a stormy night in 1648. On May 2, 2014, scenes were filmed in Old Quad at the University of Melbourne, with the set transformed into a Versailles abbey. Filming in Australia wrapped up at the end of May 2014.
== Release ==
On August 15, 2014, Paramount Pictures announced the release date for the film as April 10, 2015, while international sales would be handled by Good Universe. Just three weeks before the film was due for wide release, Paramount cancelled without specifying a future release date. A source close to the film claimed that more time was needed to complete the special effects work. The film was later retitled The King's Daughter, and on June 1, 2020, Arclight Films acquired distribution during the 2020 Cannes virtual event. In October 2021, it was announced Gravitas Ventures acquired distribution rights to the film, and set it for a January 21, 2022, release.
== Reception ==
===Box office===
In the United States and Canada, the film earned $723,150 from 2,170 theaters in its opening weekend, and made $440,846 in its second weekend.
===Critical response===
 Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film a 66% positive score, with 33% saying they would definitely recommend it.
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
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Category:2022 action adventure films
Category:2022 fantasy films
Category:2020s English-language films
Category:2020s fantasy adventure films
Category:2020s historical action films
Category:2020s historical fantasy films
Category:American films
Category:American action adventure films
Category:American fantasy action films
Category:American fantasy adventure films
Category:American historical action films
Category:American historical fantasy films
Category:Biographical films about French royalty
Category:Biographical films about Louis XIV
Category:Brookwell McNamara Entertainment films
Category:Films about mermaids
Category:Films based on adventure novels
Category:Films based on American novels
Category:Films based on fantasy novels
Category:Films directed by Sean McNamara
Category:Films set in Île-de-France
Category:Films set in the 17th century
Category:Films set in the 1640s
Category:Films shot in Île-de-France
Category:Films shot in Melbourne
Category:2022 films
Category:2022 American films
Category:2022 in film