Knights of Camelot

Knights of Camelot is a 2027 computer-animated epic fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. Inspired by , the film was written and co-produced by Brandon Greene and features the voices of Tom Holland, Taron Egerton, Daisy Ridley, John Cleese, Emily Blunt, Riz Ahmed, Eddie Redmayne, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Nicholas Hoult, Ryan Kwanten, Ben Kingsley, Andy Serkis, Malcolm McDowell, Sam Neill, Patrick Stewart and Hugo Weaving. The film was produced by the Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
The plot follows young (Holland), who marvels at the great wizard 's (Cleese) epic stories of the brave knights of , is kidnapped and brought by the to for runaway children led by (Fiennes) and (Blunt) where the runaway children are brainwashed to becoming soldiers. Arthur befriended a young scavenger named (Egerton) and a princess named (Ridley), and later escape the facility to find the knights of Camelot with new-found friends and together they fight against the Saxons and must save the kingdom of Camelot and what remains of .
Knights of Camelot was theatrically released on December 17, 2027, and was accompanied by a new Looney Tunes cartoon entitled A Hare Day's Knight. The film grossed over $186.4 million worldwide against a budget of $50 million. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its dark tone, voice performances and visuals, but criticized its screenplay and felt it did not live up to its full potential.
== Plot==
The film begins with a man named Thomas, and his niece (June) and nephew (Peter), hiking through North Cornwall, looking at a of . As they seat themselves, Thomas tells them a story about how King Arthur and his came to be, shifting the film from live-action to animation.
During the Middle Ages in , travels with his knights and the great sorcerer to retrieve the magical sword from the . Uther uses the sword to battle to win the heart of his wife , who loved Uther back. Uther and his knights win the battle and he and Igraine got married. Gorlois' daughter witnesses her father's death and is taken in by the leader , who plans to take over every kingdom in England. Nine months later, they have a baby boy that they named Arthur. Not long after, the kingdom of was invaded by Vortigern and the Saxon Knights. Due to ongoing violence at the time, the couple decided that it was far too dangerous for their son to be raised at the castle. The Saxons were regularly invading and the castle was constantly being defended. As a last resort to protect their child, Uther tells Igraine to take Arthur and find Merlin as he battles the Saxons off. While fighting the Saxon knights, Uther is wounded by Vortigern. One of Uther's knights, Sir Gwawrddur carries him off to safety, but Uther dies of his injuries. As Igraine escaped, she brings Arthur to Merlin. Merlin decided that Arthur would be raised in the countryside and so he was given to , one of Uther's most trusted knights.
A Year after Uther's death leaving no heir to the throne, Merlin places Excalibur in a stone, with an inscription proclaiming that whoever removes the sword is the rightful King of England. None succeed in removing the sword, which eventually becomes forgotten, leaving England in the Dark Ages leading to the Saxons conquering almost every kingdom.
13 years later, Arthur now lives with Sir Ector and his son, , not knowing who his true parents were. Arthur enjoys listening to Merlin's stories of the "Knights of Camelot," who fought against the Saxons, but Kay does not believe them. When Ector starts teaching them how to hunt, Arthur accidentally scares off a deer Kay was hunting, causing Kay to launch his arrow into the forest. While attempting to retrieve the arrow, Arthur witnesses , a young princess who is attacked by a giant troll. Arthur and Guinevere try to escape, but are saved (and subsequently kidnapped) by Jatz and Jut, two knights who work for the Saxons. Arthur sees his rival older cousin Ither, who is also captured.
At a facility called Home for Runaway Children, Morgan, now queen of the Saxons greets the three and several others who have been kidnapped and says that they will become either knights or pickers (children who pick through pellets and find little bits of magnetic metal that are used to build a superweapon). Morgan reveals to Arthur that she is his half-sister and asks him to join her. Ither becomes a knight while Guinevere becomes a picker and is forced to be "moon-blinked," but with the help of , a young scavenger, he and Arthur rescue her. A Saxon guard named Grimble trains them and tells them to find Camelot, but Morgan finds out and kills him. Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere escape on Arthur's horse and soon meet and who are two peasants working as dragon hunters, but they are a long way from being among the best warriors. They have a small talking pet dragon named Smokey and their goal is to find the and become knights in Camelot. While resting at a campsite, they save a little girl named Anna who is passionate with knights (especially the Silver Knight Gothic) as much as Arthur is. She is the niece of the ruler of the Western Outpost, Lord Arnold. She takes them to her uncle and Guinevere explains the Lord about the Saxons' plan the conquer Camelot. Lord Arnold agrees and sends the crew on their way to Camelot. Percival hopes to "cheat" the old man and, by assigning the deposit for the Saxon army, to escape, but this plan is broken by Anna, who had decided to follow her heroes with the hope to get acquainted closer with their craft.
The team travel towards the mystical island of where the Lady of the Lake lives who is the adoptive mother of Lancelot. She gives them their own horses and sends the team out to sea to find the Kingdom of Camelot. While traveling, the band encounters a fierce storm and Percival falls into the river and nearly drown, but they are saved by the Knights of Camelot. They lead the party to the kingdom, where Kay and Ector are. Arthur tells the Knights about the Saxons' plans. The Knights are skeptical, but Merlin is convinced and Guinevere's father sends one of the Knights Sir Archibald out with two scouts to investigate Dolorous Gard.
The crew stay in Camelot for a long time and are looked after by an elderly Sir Gwawrddur, who retired after failing to pull the sword (Excalibur) from the stone, and a young knight named , and during their stay, Arthur and Guinevere develop feelings for each other. During a lesson in the middle of a rainstorm, Arthur grasps a brief hold on gizzard-magic (using magic purely with instinct), but loses control and falls towards the sea. Merlin rescues him and orders Arthur back to his hollow, where he learns that Gwawrddur is really the creator of the legends of Silver Knight Gothic. Merlin explains to Arthur that battle isn't about glory or heroism, but doing what is right. Percival not interested in this decides to leave Gawain and Smokey behind, but later comes back. Arthur is promoted as Kay's squire. Sir Archibald returns from his scouting mission with news that two other knights were killed in an ambush. He brings back two moon-blinked children, one of which is Anna, who was kidnapped by Ither. The Knights prepare for battle and fly out towards Badon Hill; before leaving, Ector instructs Arthur to tend to Anna. When she finally snaps out of her trance, Anna tells Arthur that it was Ither who moon-blinked her and gave her to Archibald, confirming that Archibald is a traitor and that the Knights are actually riding into a trap. While outside, he sees the spirit of his biological father (which Arthur didn't know), Uther who gives him some words of wisdom from beyond the grave. Uther tells him that he has a little sister who she was born before her mother (Igraine) died of childbirth and was to be kept safe by Lord Arnold from the Saxons. Arthur deduces that Anna is his sister. With Uther's immortal spirit continuing to live on, he encourages Arthur to put an end to the Saxons' reign once and for all, no matter what it takes.
In a tournament at St Paul's Cathedral in London, some of the knights head for Badon Hill to battle the Saxon army and rescue the remaining others. During the tournament, Arthur notices he had forgotten Kay's sword and he and Lancelot went to find it. They found out it was stolen by Saxon knights and they went after them and fought them off, but Arthur loses Kay's sword just before he could get it back. He decides to replace the lost sword with another. He finds the doors locked, as everyone is watching the tournament, but Lancelot notices a sword in a nearby forest. Arthur, who does not know about the legendary "Excalibur", removes the sword from the stone almost effortlessly, fulfilling the prophecy. Word spreads and Arthur explains that he pulled Excalibur from the stone. But no one believed 14-year-old Arthur and so he is told to remove it once again. As Arthur tries to pull the sword again, one of the knights named Sir Ulfin attempts to pull it out. While trying, Ector and a knight called stop Ulfin and allow Arthur to pull the sword. He does so successfully, and the knights and townspeople declare Arthur their new king. Merlin reveals to Arthur that he is Uther's son and, hence, the rightful ruler. Gwawrddur and Leodegrance immediately proclaim their support for the new king, but Lord Arnold was outraged saying that a "reckless runaway" couldn't possibly be king because he's "only a boy" and felt infuriated that a boy who appeared seemingly by accident was chosen over an actual knight. But Leodegrance still accepts Arthur as their king, since his daughter seems to approve of this.
During his first act as king, Arthur and the knights, along with Gwawrddur who came out of retirement head to Badon Hill where they find Lord Vortigern holding the other Knights captive in a machine powered by "flecks" guarded by Saxon knights. Lancelot, Guinevere, Gawain and Percival join the army in battle with Saxon soliders sent by Lord Vortigern to kill the knights, and Vortigern has Sir Archibald taken away by Saxon guards. Meanwhile, Arthur navigates his way through a forest fire and manages to disable the fleck trap by setting Excalibur's blade on fire, slamming them shut and nullifying their effects. The knights continue to fight in battle and Merlin goes straight for Vortigern and Morgan, who nearly overpower him. Arthur sees Ither fighting Lancelot and Guinevere, but Ither, now dubbed as the , attacks him; they engage in a fight that culminates in Ither falling into the fire below, presumably killing him. Furious at his cousin's apparent death and betrayal, Arthur comes to Merlin's aid and faces Vortigern in battle. Vortigern finds out that the sword Arthur is using is the same sword "Excalibur" that King Uther wielded. He teleports in front of him and summons dark magic to transform himself into an enormous dragon. They battle, and Arthur throws the magical sword directly into Vortigern's heart, causing him to fall to his death. Morgan, shocked at her master's death, retreats with the remaining Saxons, vowing revenge on Arthur.
When returning to Camelot and reclaiming his rightful throne, the newly crowned King Arthur knights Lancelot, Gawain and Percival. Lord Arnold kneels to Arthur and asks him for forgiveness and said that Arthur has truly earned his respect. Sometimes later, Arthur and Guinevere tell the story to a group of children, revealing that Morgan is still out there with a contingent of Saxons and Ither's body was never retrieved. Meanwhile, back in the smoking remains of the canyons, a shadowy figure with glowing red eyes is seen looking at Vortigern's crown and sword. Merlin is delighted to see that Arthur is now king of England just as he foretold and Arthur forms the Round Table.
== Cast==
*Tom Holland as , a young carefree farm boy and the main protagonist of the film who loves telling the stories about the noble knights of and would later become the new king of England when he pulled from the stone.
*Taron Egerton as , a young scavenger, 's orphaned son, the Lady of the Lake's adoptive son, and Arthur's best friend.
*Daisy Ridley as , the princess of Cameliard, Lord Leodegrance's daughter, and Arthur's love interest.
*John Cleese as , an old eccentric wizard and Arthur's tutor and mentor who has the ability to see into the future.
*Emily Blunt as , a powerful sorceress and Arthur's half-sister who is the queen of the . She is the secondary antagonist of the film.
*Riz Ahmed as , a sword-wielding, muscle-bound dragon hunter and Percival's best friend who becomes friends with Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere.
*Eddie Redmayne as , a country peasant and Gawain's best friend who is on a quest for the and later also becomes friends with Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere.
*Ralph Fiennes as , the tyrannical and ruthless king of the Saxons who plans the conquer Camelot and is responsible for the death of King Uther. He is the main antagonist of the film.
*Dev Patel as Ither, Arthur's jealous and bitter rival older cousin who becomes the for the Saxon army. He is the tertiary antagonist of the film.
*Nicholas Hoult as , one of the knights in Camelot and Kay's closest friend and second-in-command of his teammates who is a skilled archer.
*Ryan Kwanten as , Ector's son and Arthur's foster brother who keeps telling Arthur to keep his head in the real world and stop his elaborate dreaming.
*Ben Kingsley as , Kay's father and Arthur's foster father and a knight in Camelot who was one of King Uther's trusted knights.
*Andy Serkis as Smokey, Gawain and Percival's pet dragon.
*Malcolm McDowell as Sir Gwawrddur, the retired knight in Camelot who served King Uther back in the day and wrote the legendary stories of the Silver Knight Gothic.
*Sam Neill as Sir Archibald, a knight and spy for Lord Vortigern.
*Patrick Stewart as , Guinevere's father and the king of Cameliard who had served King Uther and the Knights of Camelot.
*Hugo Weaving as:
**, Arthur's biological father and the previous king of England and ruler of Camelot.
**Grimble, a Saxon guard who helps Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere escape Dolorous Gard and is killed by Morgan.
**Uncle Thomas in the live-action sequence who narrates the story to his niece and nephew at the beginning of the film.
*Belle Brownlee as Anna Pendragon, Arthur's biological sister, Uther's biological daughter, Morgan's half-sister, and Lord Arnold's foster niece who is inspired by Arthur's stories of the knights.
*Jason Issacs as Sir Ulfin, one of the knights of Camelot, a trainer of squires, and a former knight of Uther.
*Idris Elba as , the leader of the resistance and a former knight of Uther.
*John Rhys-Davies as , one of the knights in Camelot and Ector's friend.
*Daniel Kaluuya as , one of the knights of Camelot and one of Kay's teammates.
*Brendan Gleeson as Sir Reginald, a knight in Camelot, a member of the resistance, and a friend of Merlin.
*Emma Thompson as , Uther's wife, Arthur, Morgan, and Anna's mother, and the ex-wife of Gorlois.
*Cate Blanchett as the , an immortal lake-dwelling enchantresses and Lancelot's adoptive mother who granted Uther the sword Excalibur.
*Sam Claflin as , one of the knights of Camelot and one of Kay's teammates.
*Simon Kassianides as , the son of Pellinore, one of the knights in Camelot, and one of Kay's teammates.
*Benedict Cumberbatch as , Ector's friend, who announces the jousting tournament.
*Brian Blessed as , the Duke of Cornwall, the first husband of Igraine, Morgan's biological father, and Uther's rival for Igraine's love.
*Nick Jameson as Lord Arnold, Anna's arrogant foster uncle and ruler of the Western Outpost.
*Jim Ward as Sir Finkleberg, one of the knights in Camelot, who fails to free Excalibur from the stone and always breaks his arm every time he lifts it.
*Jess Harnell as Gildas, Lord Arnold's advisor.
*Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson as Jatz and Jut, two knight cousins who work for the Saxons.
*Greg Ellis as Saxon spy
*John DiMaggio as Fat John of Wickashire, an old peasant who harshly refuses to pay Percival and sees him and Gawain as a joke.
*Dee Bradley Baker as the Blacksmith of Camelot.
**Baker also voices the Court Jester who announces the jousting tournament.
*Rob Paulsen as Sir Lensflair, a knight who returned to Camelot and went crazy after failing to defeat Vortigern.
**Paulsen also voices the bats of Percival's hallucinations.
* Ernest Deakin as Phillip, a young boy who gets kidnapped by the Saxons and taken to Dolorous Gard but gets rescued by the end of the film.
*Roman Wingrove as Peter, Thomas' nephew who appears in the live-action sequence.
* as June, Thomas' niece who also appears in the live-action sequence.
*Fred Tatasciore as Black Knight, a member of the Saxon army.
** Tatasciore also voices the Troll, a creature in the forest who tries to eat Guinevere.
*Kari Wahlgren as Female Peasant
==Soundtrack==
Main article: Legend of the Knights: The Heroes of Camelot/Soundtrack
 released the film's official soundtrack on December 19, 2027. The album includes thirteen score tracks composed by Harry Gregson-Williams. The soundtrack also includes the song "They Can Run", by exclusively for the film. For the film's trailer, by Queen can be heard. ' song "Kings and Queens" can be heard in the second and final trailer. The latter song is not featured in the actual film, but it's still on the film's soundtrack.
==Production==
===Development===
Warner Bros. and the Warner Animation Group acquired the rights to produce an animated film to the in June 2023. Brandon Greene was set to produce the film and Jim Mahoney was set to co-write the screenplay alongside Zach Lewis. In April 2025, Peter Jackson signed on as director and David Benioff and D. B. Weiss joined as producers. Production began in the United Kingdom in February 2026.
===Animation ===
The film's animation process took place at . A team of over 500 artists, technicians and support staff were amassed to design and animate 15 unique species of dragons, as well as other mythical creatures like trolls and fairies.
The animated end credits sequence shows the adventures of , , , , and as told by the young peasants as if they were putting on a shadow play performance in . This idea was conceived by Felicity Coonan and took around three months to animate. Coonan wanted the sequence to be a playful experiment in 2D and 3D, as the classic storytelling form of shadow puppets is a 2D medium.
===Casting===
Much of the cast was announced in the early months of 2026. Hugh Jackman, Hugo Weaving and Ryan Kwanten were announced in January; Tom Holland, John Cleese, Emma Watson, and Taron Egerton in February; and Ralph Fiennes in March. The rest of the cast was announced in November 2026, including Eddie Redmayne, Andy Serkis, Daisy Ridley, Dev Patel, Emily Blunt, Patrick Stewart and Sam Neill who replaced Jackman as the role of Sir Archibald. However, like Jackman, both Watson and Ravin were also no longer in the film. Laga’aia was also going to voice Gawain but was replaced by Riz Ahmed.
==Release==
Knights of Camelot was theatrically released in the United States on December 17, 2027, and in the United Kingdom on December 23, 2027. Warner Bros. Pictures distributed the film worldwide, with and the Warner Bros. Pictures Animation distributing in the United Kingdom.
=== Home media ===
Warner Home Video released Knights of Camelot for digital download, and on DVD and Blu-ray on April 4, 2028. At the same time, the Blu-ray DVD also includes a featurette about Arthurian Legends, entitled The Legends of the Once and Future King, featuring actors John Cleese (the voice of Merlin) along with character Smokey the Dragon (voiced by Andy Serkis). The cartoon A Hare Day's Knight is also included on the DVD.
==Reception==
=== Box office ===
In the US it took in $5.5 million on opening day, ranking third at the box office in the US. It ranked second on Saturday, earning $6 million, and was No. 1 on Sunday, earning $4.6 million (US). Overall, it earned $16,112,211 on its opening weekend, reaching second place at the box office behind Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps in America. This makes Knights of Camelot Peter Jackson's first film not to reach No. 1 on its opening weekend in the US.
In its second weekend, the film slipped 32% to $10,887,543 and held on to second place, this time behind The Goonies 2, claiming the title of the biggest second-weekend hold for an animated feature in 2027. The film ended its run in February 2028 with a $55.7 million domestic (US) gross. The film also grossed over $130.7 million from its international release, bringing its global box office total to $186.4 million.
=== Critical response ===
Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 52% of 133 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews and that it has received an average rating of 5.70/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Knights of Camelot's dark tone and dazzling visuals are to be admired, even if they're ultimately let down by a story that never lives up to its full potential." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100 based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.
Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph gave the film a score of 2/5 stars, praising the film's visuals, but criticizing its dialogue and humor. He concluded: "We’re left with something gorgeous, turgid, and emotionally impenetrable – less a movie, more a screensaver." Andy Webster of The New York Times wrote that the film "may stayed true to the legend, but for all its pyrotechnics, it fails to soar." Sandra Hall of The Sydney Morning Herald wrote: "It takes a certain knack to make a film which has a sinister feel to it without being the least bit exciting but Jackson has done it with this one."
==Accolades==
Group 	Category 	Recipient 	Result
38th Annie Awards 	Animated Effects in an Animated Production 	Brandon Greene 	Nominated
38th Annie Awards 	Music in a Feature Production 	Harry Gregson-Williams	Nominated
38th Annie Awards 	Production Design in a Feature Production 	Dan Hee Ryu 	Nominated
38th Annie Awards 	Voice Acting in a Feature Production 	John Cleese 	Nominated
Visual Effects Society Awards 2010	Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture 	 	Nominated
Visual Effects Society Awards 2010	Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture	 	Nominated
Satellite Awards 	Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media 	 	Nominated
Saturn Awards 	Best Animated Film 	 	Nominated
AACTA Awards 	Best Visual Effects 	Dean Gordon 	Won
AACTA Awards 	Best Sound 	 	Nominated
==Possible sequel==
According to co-producer, Brandon Greene, there were discussions for a sequel to Knights of Camelot as of 2027, but nothing solid as to when production would begin, as such a sequel would come in behind several other films Locksmith Animation will be producing or already is producing with Warner Bros.
Tom Holland and John Cleese have both said in a 2027 interview that they would reprise their roles as King Arthur and Merlin if a sequel ever entered production.
==Trivia ==
*It is the seventh film made by Warner Bros..
*It is the fifth animated King Arthur film as the first four are: Disney's The Sword in the Stone, Warner Bros. Quest for Camelot, Dreamworks Shrek the Third and .
*The idea of and having a pet dragon sidekick was Brandon Greene's idea to add a little humor to the film.
*The scene where Arthur shouts "RUN AWAY!" and the other where Gawain uses coconuts to make the sounds of horse hooves are references to the 1975 comedy film . In fact, some of Legend of the Knights' humor is reminiscent to the film.
*The scene where Percival comments about "4 guys, a princess, and a whacky animal sidekick going on an adventure and needing a musical number" is a reference to the Disney tropes in films.
*The live-action character, Uncle Thomas is named after English author who wrote the the 15th-century Arthurian romance .
*Ian McKellen and Geoffrey Rush were both considered to be the voice of Merlin before the role went to John Cleese. Cleese also played in .
*Originally, Mordred was going to be in the film as Arthur's cousin. But wanting to stick to the main elements of the source material, since Mordred is Arthur's nephew/son, he was cut out and replaced by Ither, who is based on the . Though half elements of him are based on Mordred.
*Patrick Stewart voices in the film. Stewart also played the same character in the 1981 film .
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