King Arthur (2004 film)

King Arthur
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Antoine Fuqua
Written by	David Franzoni
Produced by	Jerry Bruckheimer
Starring	Clive Owen Keira Knightley Stellan Skarsgård Stephen Dillane Ray Winstone Hugh Dancy Til Schweiger Ioan Gruffudd
Cinematography	Slawomir Idziak
Edited by	Conrad Buff Jamie Pearson
Music by	Hans Zimmer
Production companies	Touchstone Pictures Jerry Bruckheimer Films World 2000 Entertainment Green Hills Productions
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date	7 July 2004 (2004-07-07)
Running time	126 minutes 142 minutes (Director's cut)
Countries	United States United Kingdom Ireland
Languages	English, Scottish Gaelic
Budget	$120 million
Box office	$203.6 million

King Arthur is a 2004 epic historical adventure film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Franzoni. It features an ensemble cast with Clive Owen as the title character, Ioan Gruffudd as Lancelot and Keira Knightley as Guinevere, along with Mads Mikkelsen, Joel Edgerton, Hugh Dancy, Ray Winstone, Ray Stevenson, Stephen Dillane, Stellan Skarsgård and Til Schweiger.

The film is unusual in reinterpreting Arthur as a Roman officer rather than the typical medieval knight. Several literary works have also done so, including David Gemmell's Ghost King, Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles, and perhaps the strongest influence on this film, Bernard Cornwell's Warlord series. The producers of the film attempted to market it as a more historically accurate version of the Arthurian legends, supposedly inspired by new archaeological findings. The film also replaces the sword in the stone story with a darker and more tragic backstory of how Arthur claimed his sword Excalibur. The film was shot in Ireland, England, and Wales.^[1]

King Arthur was released by Buena Vista Pictures on July 7, 2004. The film received mixed to negative reviews with critics criticizing the setting, violence and battle sequences while praising the musical score, directing, performances and cinematography and grossed $203.6 million against a production budget of $120 million.