Charlie Hunnam Nearing Deal to Play King Arthur for Guy Ritchie

He’ll be joined by his “Pacific Rim” co-star Idris Elba in the Warner Bros. movie

FX Sons of Anarchy Charlie Hunnam

There’s a “Pacific Rim” reunion on the horizon Charlie Hunnam is nearing a deal to play King Arthur alongside Idris Elba in Guy Ritchie’s upcoming Warner Bros. movie “Knight of the Roundtable: King Arthur,” an individual familiar with project has told TheWrap.

Elba is in talks to play a knight named Bedivere, who trains Arthur for battle as he learns his true destiny.

Hunnam’s casting would represent a major upgrade over “Game of Thrones” star Kit Harington, who was going to play Arthur opposite Joel Kinnaman’s Lancelot in a medieval movie that David Dobkin nearly directed for Warner Bros. before the studio deemed its $130 million budget too high. The studio recast the project with Colin Farrell as Arthur and Gary Oldman as Merlin, but it wasn’t enough to merit a greenlight.

Interestingly enough, a British tabloid recently reported that “Fifty Shades of Grey” star Jamie Dornan was Ritchie’s choice to play Arthur, and it was Dornan who replaced Hunnam as Christian Grey. It’s possible Ritchie could have his eye on Dornan for another role, but there can only be one King, and according to one insider, Hunnam has the role tied up.

Joby Harold wrote the script and will produce with his Safehouse Pictures partner Tory Tunnell, as well as Akiva Goldsman and Lionel Wigram. Village Roadshow is co-producing and co-financing with Warner Bros., which will release Ritchie’s “King Arthur” on July 22, 2016.

Hunnam is preparing to bid farewell to his star-making role as Jax Teller on FX’s “Sons of Anarchy.” He recently wrapped Guillermo del Toro‘s gothic horror movie “Crimson Peak.” He’s represented by CAA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and attorney David Weber.

The news was first reported by Deadline.

Comments