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, David Tennant, Emily Blunt, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Eddie Redmayne, Ryan Kwanten, 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 (Tennant) epic stories of the brave knights of Camelot, is kidnapped and brought by the Saxons to a facility for orphans led by Lord Vortigern (Cumberbatch) and Morgan Le Fay (Blunt) where the runaway children are brainwashed to becoming soldiers. Arthur befriended a young runaway named Lancelot (Egerton) and 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 and nephew, 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 and he retrieves Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake. Uther uses it to battle Gorlois to win the heart of his wife Igraine, who also loves Uther. 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. A few years later, Igraine gives birth to a baby and she and Uther name him Arthur. Nine months later ,the kingdom of Camelot was invaded by Vortigern and the Saxon Knights. As a last resort to protecting their child, Uther tells Igraine to take Arthur and run away as he pursues and defend the Saxons off but is killed by Vortigern. Igraine brings Arthur to the great wizard Merlin and tells him to give her son to Sir Ector, one of Uther's most trusted knights to raise him.

A Year after King 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. Arthur enjoys listening to Merlin's stories of the "Knights of Camelot," valiant warriors led by King Uther and Sir Lyzeikiel 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 an 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.

At a facility called the St. Aegolius Home for Orphaned Owls, the Pure Ones' queen Nyra greets the brothers and several other owls who have been kidnapped and says that they will become either soldiers or pickers (owls who pick through owl pellets and find little bits of magnetic metal called "flecks" that are used to build a superweapon). Kludd becomes a soldier while Soren and Gylfie, a young elf owl, become pickers and are forced to be "moon-blinked," but they resist. A boreal owl named Grimble teaches them to fly and tells them to find the Great Tree of Ga'Hoole, but Nyra finds out and kills him. Soren and Gylfie escape and soon meet Digger, a burrowing owl, and Twilight, a great grey owl. While resting in their hollow, Soren is reunited with Mrs. P, a blind snake who is his family's nest maid, who was captured by Twilight while searching for Soren and Kludd. She agrees to go with them and find the Guardians.