Last week it was reported that Guy Ritchie was planning a King Arthur movie*, and now Variety has turned up a few tidbits to add to the mix. It seems that this news story will be based on Thomas Malory's 15th century collection of Arthur legends, Le Morte d'Arthur,and that Ritchie is already working with John Hodge (Trainspotting) on the screenplay.
For those of you not au fait with 15th century literature, Malory's book was started when he was in prison in the 1450s, and assembled all the popular tales about Arthur into one easily-readable (if Middle English is your thing) package. The sections of the book focus on Arthur's birth, his struggle against the Roman Empire, his knights Lancelot and Gareth, the story of Tristan and Isolde, the quest for the Holy Grail, Lancelot's affair with Guinevere and the breaking of the Round Table and Arthur's death.
If last week's report was right, this story will focus on King Arthur assembling his knights, which would put this in the early parts of the book. If that does prove true, we can expect a sort of Magnificent Seven in armour, and that has to be a good thing. Let's hope, however, that Hodge is allowed to stick closer to Malory's book than he did to Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising, his last adaptation.
*Not to be confused with the Antoine Fuqua / Clive Owen movie, which stripped out the magic-y / Merlin-y bits and ended up less believable than ever.