Knights of Camelot

Legend of the Knights: The Heroes of Camelot is a 2027 animated epic fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. Inspired by Arthurian legends, the film was written and co-produced by Brandon Greene and features the voices of Tom Holland, Taron Egerton, Daisy Ridley, John Cleese, Emily Blunt, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ryan Kwanten, Eddie Redmayne, Ben Kingsley, Andy Serkis, Anthony Hopkins, Sam Neill, Patrick Stewart and Hugo Weaving. The film was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, and Sergio Pablos Animation Studios and distributed by HBO Max.

The plot follows young Arthur (Holland), who marvels at the great wizard Merlin's (Cleese) epic stories of the brave knights of Camelot, is kidnapped and brought by the Saxons to Dolorous Gard for runaway children led by Lord Vortigern (Cumberbatch) and Morgan le Fay (Blunt) where the runaway children are brainwashed to becoming soldiers. Arthur befriended a young scavenger named Lancelot (Egerton) and a princess named Guinevere (Ridley), and later escape the facility to find the knights of Camelot with new-found friends and together they fight against the Saxons and must save the kingdom of Camelot and what remains of England.

Legend of the Knights was released on HBO Max on December 17, 2027, and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its voice performances and animation but criticized its story and characters.

Plot
The film begins with a man named Thomas, and his niece (June) and nephew (Peter), hiking through North Cornwall, looking at a statue of King Arthur. As they seat themselves, Thomas tells them a story about how King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table came to be, shifting the film from live-action to animation.

During the Middle Ages in England, King Uther Pendragon travels with his knights and the great sorcerer Merlin to retrieve the magical sword Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake. Uther uses the sword to battle Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall to win the heart of his wife Igraine, who loved Uther back. Uther wins Igraine's hand and they got married. Gorlois' daughter Morgan le Fay witnesses her father's death and is taken in by the Saxon leader Lord Vortigern, who plans to take over every kingdom in England. Nine months later, Igraine gives birth to a baby they named Arthur. Not long after, the kingdom of Camelot was invaded by Vortigern and the Saxon Knights. Due to ongoing violence at the time, the couple decided that it was far too dangerous for their son to be raised at the castle. The Saxons were regularly invading and the castle was constantly being defended. As a last resort to protect their child, Uther tells Igraine to take Arthur and run away as he battles the Saxons off but is wounded by Vortigern. One of Uther's knights, Sir Malory carries him off to safety and Uther dies of his injuries. As Igraine escaped, she brings Arthur to Merlin. Merlin decided that Arthur would be raised in the countryside and so he was given to Sir Ector, one of Uther's most trusted knights.

A Year after Uther's death leaving no heir to the throne, Merlin places Excalibur in a stone, with an inscription proclaiming that whoever removes the sword is the rightful King of England. None succeed in removing the sword, which eventually becomes forgotten, leaving England in the Dark Ages leading to the Saxons conquering almost every kingdom.

13 years later, Arthur now lives with Sir Ector and his son, Kay, not knowing who his true parents were. Arthur enjoys listening to Merlin's stories of the "Knights of Camelot," who fought against the Saxons, but Kay does not believe them. When Ector starts teaching them how to hunt, Arthur accidentally scares off a deer Kay was hunting, causing Kay to launch his arrow into the forest. While attempting to retrieve the arrow, Arthur witnesses Guinevere, a young princess who is attacked by a giant troll. Arthur and Guinevere try to escape, but are saved (and subsequently kidnapped) by Jatz and Jut, two knights who work for the Saxons. Arthur sees his rival cousin Mordred, who is also captured.

At a facility called Dolorous Gard Home for Runaway Children, Morgan, now queen of the Saxons greets the three and several others who have been kidnapped and says that they will become either knights or pickers (children who pick through pellets and find little bits of magnetic metal that are used to build a superweapon). Morgan reveals to Arthur that she is his half-sister and asks him to join her. Mordred becomes a soldier while Guinevere becomes a picker and is forced to be "moon-blinked," but with the help of Lancelot, a young scavenger, he and Arthur rescue her. A Saxon guard named Grimble trains them and tells them to find Camelot, but Morgan finds out and kills him. Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere escape on Arthur's horse and soon meet Gawain and Percival who are two peasants working as dragon hunters, but they are a long way from being among the best warriors. They have a small talking pet dragon named Smokey and their goal is to find the Holy Grail and become knights in Camelot. While resting at a campsite, they save a little girl named Anna who is passionate with knights (especially the Silver Knight Gothic) as much as Arthur is. She is the niece of the ruler of the Western Outpost, Lord Arnold. She takes them to her uncle and Guinevere explains the Lord about the Saxons' plan the conquer Camelot. Lord Arnold agrees and sends the crew on their way to Camelot. Percival hopes to "cheat" the old man and, by assigning the deposit for the Saxon army, to escape, but this plan is broken by Anna, who had decided to follow her heroes with the hope to get acquainted closer with their craft.

The team travel towards the mystical island of Avalon where the Lady of the Lake lives who is the adoptive mother of Lancelot. She gives them their own horses and sends the team out to sea to find the Kingdom of Camelot. While traveling, the band encounters a fierce storm and Percival falls into the river and nearly drown, but they are saved by the Knights of Camelot. They lead the party to the kingdom, where Kay and Ector are. Arthur tells the Knights about the Saxons' plans. The Knights are skeptical, but Merlin is convinced and Guinevere's father Lord Leodegrance sends one of the Knights Sir Archibald out with two scouts to investigate Dolorous Gard.

The crew stay in Camelot for a long time and are looked after by an elderly Sir Malory, who retired after failing to pull the sword (Excalibur) from the stone, and a young knight-in-training named Tristan, and during their stay, Arthur and Guinevere develop feelings for each other. During a lesson in the middle of a rainstorm, Arthur grasps a brief hold on gizzard-magic (using magic purely with instinct), but loses control and falls towards the sea. Merlin rescues him and orders Arthur back to his hollow, where he learns that Malory is really the creator of the legends of Silver Knight Gothic. Merlin explains to Arthur that battle isn't about glory or heroism, but doing what is right. Percival not interested in this decides to leave Gawain and Smokey behind, but later comes back. Arthur is promoted as Kay's squire. Sir Archibald returns from his scouting mission with news that two other knights were killed in an ambush. He brings back two moon-blinked children, one of which is Anna, who was kidnapped by Mordred. The Knights prepare for battle and fly out towards Badon Hill; before leaving, Ector instructs Arthur to tend to Anna. When she finally snaps out of her trance, Anna tells Arthur that it was Mordred who moon-blinked her and gave her to Archibald, confirming that Archibald is a traitor and that the Knights are actually riding into a trap. While outside, he sees the spirit of his biological father (which Arthur didn't know), Uther who gives him some words of wisdom from beyond the grave. Uther tells him that he has a little sister who she was born before his mother Igraine died of childbirth and was to be kept safe by Lord Arnold from the Saxons. Arthur deduces that Anna is his sister. With Uther's immortal spirit continuing to live on, he encourages Arthur to put an end to the Saxons' reign once and for all, no matter what it takes.

At the tournament, some of the knights head for Badon Hill to battle Saxon army and rescue the remaining others. During the tournament, Arthur notices he had forgotten Kay's sword and he and Lancelot went to find it. They found out it was stolen by Saxon knights and they went after them and fought them off, but Arthur loses Kay's sword just before he could get it back. He decides to replace the stolen sword with another. He finds the doors locked, as everyone is watching the tournament, but Lancelot notices a sword in a nearby forest. Arthur, who does not know about the legendary "Excalibur", removes the sword from the stone almost effortlessly, fulfilling the prophecy. Word spreads and Arthur explains that he pulled Excalibur from the stone. But Lord Arnold does not believe 14-year-old Arthur. As Arthur tries to pull the sword again, one of the knights named Sir Ulfin attempts to pull it out. While trying, Ector, Malory, and a knight called Sir Dagonet stop Ulfin and allow Arthur to pull the sword. He does so successfully, and the knights and townspeople declare Arthur their new king. Merlin reveals to Arthur that he is Uther's son and, hence, the rightful ruler. Malory and Leodegrance immediately proclaim their support for the new king, but Lord Arnold was outraged and infuriated saying that a "reckless runaway" couldn't possibly be king because he's "just a kid". But Leodegrance still accepts Arthur as their king of England, since his daughter, Guinevere seems to approve of this and Guinevere, Percival, and Kay jeer Arnold, while singing Arthur’s praises.

During his first act as king, Arthur and the knights, along with Smokey and Sir Malory who came out of retirement head to Badon Hill where they find Lord Vortigern holding the other Knights captive in a machine powered by "flecks" guarded by Saxon knights. Lancelot, Guinevere, Gawain and Percival join the army in battle with Saxon soliders sent by Lord Vortigern to kill the knights, and Vortigern has Sir Archibald taken away by Saxon guards. Meanwhile, Arthur navigates his way through a forest fire and manages to disable the fleck trap by setting Excalibur's blade on fire, slamming them shut and nullifying their effects. The knights continue to fight in battle and Merlin goes straight for Vortigern and Morgan, who nearly overpower him. Arthur sees Mordred fighting Lancelot and Guinevere, but Mordred attacks him; they engage in a fight that culminates in Mordred falling into the fire below, presumably killing him. Furious at his cousin's apparent death and betrayal, Arthur comes to Merlin's aid and faces Vortigern in battle. Vortigern finds out that the sword Arthur is using is the same sword "Excalibur" that King Uther wielded. He teleports in front of him and summons dark magic to transform himself into an enormous dragon. They battle, and Arthur throws the magical sword directly into Vortigern's heart, causing him to fall to his death. Morgan, shocked at her master's death, retreats with the remaining Saxons, vowing revenge on Arthur.

When returning to Camelot and reclaiming his rightful throne, the newly crowned King Arthur knights Lancelot, Gawain, Percival, and Tristan. Kay takes the opportunity to ask Arthur for forgiveness and said that Arthur has earned his respect. Sometimes later, Arthur and Guinevere tell the story to a group of children, revealing that Morgan is still out there with a contingent of Saxons and Mordred's body was never retrieved. Meanwhile, back in the smoking remains of the canyons, a shadowy figure with glowing red eyes is seen looking at Vortigern's crown and sword. Merlin is delighted to see that Arthur is now king of England just as he foretold and Arthur forms the Round Table.

Cast

 * Tom Holland as Arthur Pendragon, a young carefree farm boy and the main protagonist of the film who loves telling the stories about the knights and would later become the new king of England when he pulled Excalibur from the stone.
 * Taron Egerton as Lancelot, a young scavenger, King Ban's orphaned son, the Lady of the Lake's adoptive son, and Arthur's best friend.
 * Daisy Ridley as Guinevere, the princess of Cameliard, Lord Leodegrance's daughter, and Arthur's love interest.
 * John Cleese as Merlin, an old eccentric wizard and Arthur's tutor and mentor who has the ability to see into the future.
 * Emily Blunt as Morgan le Fay, a powerful sorceress and Arthur's half-sister who is the queen of the Saxons. She is the secondary antagonist of the film.
 * Nick Frost as Gawain, a sword-wielding, muscle-bound dragon hunter and Percival's best friend who becomes friends with Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere.
 * Simon Pegg as Percival, a country peasant and Gawain's best friend who is on a quest for the Holy Grail and later also becomes friends with Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere.
 * Benedict Cumberbatch as Lord Vortigern, the tyrannical and ruthless king of the Saxons who plans the conquer Camelot and is responsible for the death of King Uther. He is the main antagonist of the film.
 * Dev Patel as Mordred, Arthur's jealous and bitter rival cousin who becomes a knight for the Saxon army. He is the tertiary antagonist of the film.
 * Ryan Kwanten as Sir Kay, Ector's son and Arthur's foster brother who keeps telling Arthur to keep his head in the real world and stop his elaborate dreaming of being a knight.
 * Eddie Redmayne as Sir Tristan, one of the knights in Camelot and Kay's closest friend and second-in-command of his teammates who is a skilled archer.
 * Ben Kingsley as Sir Ector, Kay's father and Arthur's foster father and a knight in Camelot who was one of King Uther's trusted knights.
 * Andy Serkis as Smokey, Gawain and Percival's pet dragon.
 * Anthony Hopkins as Sir Malory, the retired knight in Camelot who served King Uther back in the day and wrote the legendary stories of the Silver Knight Gothic.
 * Sam Neill as Sir Archibald, a knight and spy for Lord Vortigern.
 * Patrick Stewart as Lord Leodegrance, Guinevere's father and the king of Cameliard who had served King Uther and the Knights of Camelot.
 * Hugo Weaving as:
 * King Uther Pendragon, Arthur's biological father and the previous king of England and ruler of Camelot.
 * Grimble, a Saxon guard who helps Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere escape Dolorous Gard and is killed by Morgan.
 * Uncle Thomas in the live-action sequence who narrates the story to his niece and nephew at the beginning of the film.
 * Belle Brownlee as Anna Pendragon, Arthur's biological sister, Uther's biological daughter, Morgan's half-sister, and Lord Arnold's foster niece who is inspired by Arthur's stories of the knights.
 * Jason Issacs as Sir Ulfin, one of the knights of Camelot, a trainer of squires, and a former knight of Uther.
 * Idris Elba as Sir Brunor, the leader of the resistance and a former knight of Uther.
 * John Rhys-Davies as Sir Dagonet, one of the knights in Camelot and Ector's friend.
 * Daniel Kaluuya as Sir Bedivere, one of the knights of Camelot and one of Kay's teammates.
 * Sam Claflin as Sir Geraint, one of the knights of Camelot and one of Kay's teammates.
 * Simon Kassianides as Sir Lamorak, the son of Pellinore, one of the knights in Camelot, and one of Kay's teammates.
 * Brendan Gleeson as Sir Reginald, a knight in Camelot, a member of the resistance, and a friend of Merlin.
 * Hugh Laurie as Sir Pellinore, Ector's friend, who announces the jousting tournament.
 * Dominic Cooper as Sir Palamedes, one of the knights in Camelot and a friend of Tristan.
 * Cate Blanchett as the Lady of the Lake, an immortal lake-dwelling spirit who grants Arthur the sword Excalibur.
 * Emma Thompson as Queen Igraine, Uther's wife, Arthur, Morgan, and Anna's mother, and the ex-wife of Gorlois.
 * Nick Jameson as Lord Arnold, Anna's arrogant foster uncle and ruler of the Western Outpost.
 * Jim Ward as Sir Finkleberg, one of the knights in Camelot, who fails to free Excalibur from the stone and always breaks his arm everytime he lifts it.
 * Jess Harnell as Gildas, Lord Arnold's advisor.
 * Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson as Jatz and Jut, two knight cousins who work for the Saxons.
 * Greg Ellis as Saxon spy
 * John DiMaggio as Fat John of Wickashire, an old peasant who harshly refuses to pay Percival and sees him and Gawain as a joke.
 * Dee Bradley Baker as the Blacksmith of Camelot.
 * Baker also voices the Court Jester who announces the jousting tournament.
 * Rob Paulsen as Sir Lensflair, a knight who returned to Camelot and went crazy after failing to defeat Vortigern.
 * Paulsen also voices the bats of Percival's hallucinations.
 * Ernest Deakin as Phillip, a young boy who gets kidnapped by the Saxons and taken to Dolorous Gard but gets rescued by the end of the film.
 * Roman Wingrove as Peter, Thomas' nephew who appears in the live-action sequence.
 * Princess Charlotte of Cambridge as June, Thomas' niece who also appears in the live-action sequence.
 * Fred Tatasciore as Black Knight, a member of the Saxon army.
 * Kari Wahlgren as Female Peasant

Soundtrack
Main article: Legend of the Knights: The Heroes of Camelot/Soundtrack

WaterTower Music released the film's official soundtrack on December 19, 2027. The album includes thirteen score tracks composed by Harry Gregson-Williams. The soundtrack also includes the song "They Can Run", The Cure and Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Pink's cover of Queen's "We Will Rock You" both exclusively for the film. For the film's trailer, Queen's version of "We Will Rock You" can be heard. Thirty Seconds to Mars' song "Kings and Queens" can be heard in the second and final trailer. Both songs are not featured in the actual film, but they're still on the film's soundtrack.

Development
Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema acquired the rights to produce a traditional-animated film to the Arthurian mythos in June 2023. Brandon Greene was set to produce the film and Sergio Pablos was set to write the screenplay. In April 2025, Peter Jackson signed on as director and David Benioff and D. B. Weiss joined as producers. Production began in the United Kingdom in February 2026.

Animation
The film's animation process took place at Sergio Pablos Animation Studios. A team of over 500 artists, technicians and support staff were amassed to design and animate 15 unique species of dragons, as well as other mythical creatures.

The animated end credits sequence shows the adventures of King Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, Guinevere, Gawain and Percival as told by the young peasants as if they were putting on a shadow play performance in Camelot. This idea was conceived by Felicity Coonan and took around three months to animate. Coonan wanted the sequence to be a playful experiment in 2D and 3D, as the classic storytelling form of shadow puppets is a 2D medium.

Casting
Much of the cast was announced in the early months of 2026. Hugh Jackman, Hugo Weaving and Ryan Kwanten were announced in January; Tom Holland, John Cleese, Emma Watson, and Taron Egerton in February; and Benedict Cumberbatch in March. The rest of the cast was announced in November 2026, including Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Daisy Ridley, Dev Patel, Emily Blunt, Patrick Stewart and Sam Neill who replaced Jackman as the role of Sir Archibald. However, like Jackman, both Watson and Ravin were also no longer in the film. Laga’aia was also going to voice Gawain but was replaced by Nick Frost.

Release
HBO Max acquired distribution rights to the film, with Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema distributing in territories. It was released on HBO Max on December 17, 2027.

Reception
Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 52% of 133 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews and that it has received an average rating of 5.70/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Legend of the Knights ' dark tone and dazzling visuals are to be admired, even if they're ultimately let down by a story that never lives up to its full potential." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100 based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.

Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph gave the film a score of 2/5 stars, praising the film's visuals, but criticizing its dialogue and humor. He concluded: "We’re left with something gorgeous, turgid, and emotionally impenetrable – less a movie, more a screensaver." Andy Webster of The New York Times wrote that the film "may stayed true to the legend, but for all its pyrotechnics, it fails to soar." Sandra Hall of The Sydney Morning Herald wrote: "It takes a certain knack to make a film which has a sinister feel to it without being the least bit exciting but Jackson has done it with this one."

Possible sequel
According to co-producer, Brandon Greene, there were discussions for a sequel to Legend of the Knights: The Heroes of Camelot as of 2027, but nothing solid as to when production would begin, as such a sequel would come in behind several other films Sergio Pablos Animation Studios will be producing or already is producing with Warner Bros.

Tom Holland and John Cleese have both said in a 2027 interview that they would reprise their roles as King Arthur and Merlin if a sequel ever entered production.

Trivia

 * It is the seventh King Arthur film made by Warner Bros..
 * It is the fifth animated King Arthur film as the first four are: Disney's The Sword in the Stone, Warner Bros. Quest for Camelot, Dreamworks Shrek the Third and Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob.
 * The idea of Percival and Gawain having a pet dragon sidekick was Brandon Greene's idea to add a little humor to the film.
 * The scene where Arthur shouts "RUN AWAY!" and the other where Gawain uses coconuts to make the sounds of horse hooves are references to the 1975 comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In fact, some of Legend of the Knights ' humor is reminiscent to the film.
 * The scene where Percival comments about "4 guys, a princess, and a whacky animal sidekick going on an adventure and needing a musical number" is a reference to the Disney tropes in films.
 * The two characters, Uncle Thomas and Sir Malory are a reference to English author Thomas Malory who wrote the the 15th-century Arthurian romance Le Morte d'Arthur.
 * Ian McKellen and Geoffrey Rush were both considered to be the voice of Mer lin before the role went to John Cleese. Cleese also played Sir Lancelot the Brave in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
 * In the film, Mordred is Arthur's cousin while in the tale, Mordred is Arthur's nephew/son.
 * Patrick Stewart voices Leodegrance in the film. Stewart also played the same character in the 1981 film Excalibur.