Medieval (film)
Medieval ("Jan Žižka" or "Warrior of God") is an upcoming Czech action historical drama film by Petr Jákl. It is about the life of Jan Žižka, a Bohemian military commander who never lost a battle. The film is set prior to the Hussite Wars (1419–1434), when Žižka was young. It tells the story of how Žižka became a famous military commander. It is the most expensive Czech film ever made. Plot. The plot of the film starts sometime in the end of the 14th century, when Wenceslaus IV is the king of Bohemia and Roman emperor at the  same time. Wenceslas has received the throne after his father Charles IV, but his reign is not as successful and the kingdom seems to fall apart under his weak rule. The most powerful nobleman in the country, Henry III of Rosenberg, keeps seizing properties of lower nobility one after another, until one of them starts resisting. The brave hero is young Jan Žižka, a knight and mercenary, future leader of the Hussite army. Rosenberg had almost all his family killed and Žižka wants a revenge. Rosenberg's fiancée Katherine falls in love with the warrior and hands him the text  between Rosenberg and the League of Lords planning to dethrone the king. Although the plot is revealed, the League succeeds in kidnapping the king. The king's troops manage to make Wenceslas free, but he has to accept a humiliating peace. Thus Žižka has to choose between two alternatives: give up the fight for justice and receive a higher rank at the royal court, or keep fighting, though alone and abandoned. Production. In 2013, Petr Jákl announced that he was preparing to make a film about Jan Žižka. He estimated a possible budget of 85 million Czech koruna. During 2014 , it was scheduled for a 2016 release. Work on the film started after Jákl finished Ghoul in 2015. American agency William Morris Endeavor has assisted with recruitment of actors for the film. Jákl stated that Žižka would most likely be played by a foreign actor. In August 2016, the process of recruiting extras for battles was started. The first round of recruitment concluded in January 2017, with thousands of volunteers. In July 2017, Jákl announced that shooting would start in Spring 2018, and that it would take place in South Bohemia and Central Bohemia. He also stated that Žižka would  definitely not be played by a Czech actor, saying that his USA contacts were talking with the agents of some American actors. Cassian Elwes became the film's producer on 6 March 2018. Ben Foster was announced to be cast as Jan Žižka on 24 August 2018. Shooting was scheduled to start on 17 September 2018. Michael Caine was announced on 7 September 2018 to be cast as the fictional character of Lord Boreš. Matthew Goode was cast in November as King Sigismund. The film was officially announced on 13 September 2018. The main cast included Til Schweiger, Marek Vašut , and Sophie Lowe, among others. The final budget was announced as 500,000,000 CZK (23,000,000 USD). Shooting started on 17 September 2018, continuing near Prague until October 2018. Shooting then moved to various Czech castles such as Křivoklát Castle before concluding in December 2018. Shooting took place primarily in Central Bohemian and South Bohemia. Themes and inspirations. The film is based on the youth of the famous Hussite commander Jan Žižka, one of the most successful military leaders of his time, who had never lost a battle. Director Petr Jákl (who had been known to film audience especially thanks to the  popular thriller "Kajínek" about a well-known Czech prison escapee) said he wanted to promote Czech Republic in the world and so this time he chose one of the biggest Czech national heroes as the main character for his film. Unlike other autors, he chose the early period of Žižka's life because he wanted the audience to see how his character was formed. At the same time it allowed him to make the film different from his predecessors (for example a well-known 1955 film "Jan Žižka" by Otakar Vávra) which focused on his glorious Hussite period. Jákl admitted  that although he tried to be faithful to the facts, cooperating with the Czech historian Jaroslav Čechura, he did not consider them as important as the overall impression, especially as many facts of Žižka's early life are not known at all or are a matter of dispute among historians. Thus also a love story was added.