'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword' News, Updates: Production Falls Short, Becomes Box Office Flop
Predicted to be a box office hit after the marketing team advertised and boasted superior graphics and performance by the actors, "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" has raked in overwhelmingly negative reviews. Warner Bros. Pictures is now facing the possibility of losing over $150 million for the production of the medieval-themed movie.
Analysts around the world are trying to understand how the high-profile film could do so badly despite the budget and efforts made by the production team. According to The Telegraph, it seems that the problem in Guy Ritchie's "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" lies in the fact that so much effort was put into modernizing the epic story of the king instead of making an effort to reach a balance between the epic's natural characteristics and the aspects of the current atmosphere of the target market.
The graphics overshadowed the film's era, which is most likely why the audience was unable to completely immerse themselves in "Pacific Rim" actor Charlie Hunnam's role as King Arthur. Other critics have reached a level wherein when they were asked about what could have gone wrong about the film, the general consensus was the answer, "Everything."
"'King Arthur' is a paint-by-numbers Hollywood disaster — wrong director, wrong cast, wrong script, etc.," box-office analyst Jeff Bock tells Hollywood Reporter. "The whole 'Game of Thrones'-on-steroids direction the studio went with from the get-go just didn't get anyone psyched to see this."
After the film's screening was delayed multiple times before the actual premiere finally pushed through, studio insiders were also reportedly worried about the film's performance. Add the fact that medieval-themed movies have not been popular in the market lately, many questioned how "King Arthur" would survive and fight the current expectations. So far, the only medieval-themed production that has succeeded is "Game of Thrones."
In an interview with Evening Standard, Cara Delevingne's sister, Poppy, didn't seem too enthused to discuss her role in "King Arthur" as Queen Igraine. She said that she gets hacked in the first 10 minutes and that she had maybe seven to 10 lines. The underwhelming promotion of the stars could have been an indication that "King Arthur" would not triumph with his sword.
