Sword in the Stone (live action remake)

The Sword in the Stone is an upcoming 2022 American musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Gore Verbinski, from a script he co-wrote with John August, it is a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1963 animated film of the same name, it is based on the novel of the same name by T. H. White, The film stars Matthew Illesley, Steve Martin, Brendan Gleeson, James Phelps, and Meryl Streep in supporting roles, as well as the voice of Zach Galifianakis.

The Sword in the Stone is scheduled to be released on December 25, 2022 (Christmas Day)

Cast
Matthew Illesley as Arthur

Steve Martin as Merlin

Zach Galifianakis as Archimedes (Voice)

Brendan Gleeson as Sir Ector

James Phelps as Sir Kay

Charles Dance as Sir Pellinore

Natalie Portman as Sculley Maid

Meryl Streep as Madam Min

Edward Norton as Black Bart

Plot
The film begins in England with the death of the king, Uther Pendragon. No heir is named, and so England is threatened to be torn apart by war. Miraculously, the mystical "Sword in the Stone" appears in London, with an inscription proclaiming that whomever pulls it out is the rightful King of England. Many try to remove the sword, but none succeed and the sword is soon forgotten, leaving England in dark ages.

Some years later, Arthur (a.k.a. Wart), a 12-year old orphan training to be a squire, accompanies his older foster brother Sir Kay on a hunting trip. Arthur accidentally prevents Kay from shooting a deer and goes to retrieve the arrow to make up for his mistake. In the woods, he falls into the cottage of Merlin, a powerful wizard. Merlin announces he will be Arthur's tutor, packs up and the two return to Arthur's home, a castle run by Sir Ector, one of Uther's knights and Arthur's foster father. Ector does not believe in magic and refuses to allow Merlin to tutor Arthur. Merlin creates a blizzard and disappears, which persuades Ector to let Merlin stay, albeit in a decrepit old tower with countless leaks. Ector's friend and fellow knight, Sir Pellinore, arrives with news about the annual jousting tournament to be held on New Year's Day in London, only this time whose winner would be crowned King of England. Ector proposes that Kay be knighted and compete for the title, despite Kay's obvious ineptitude in both jousting and sword fighting.

Merlin begins his tutoring by transforming Arthur and himself into fish and going into the castle's moat. Arthur is chased and attacked by a pike, and is saved by Archimedes, Merlin's owl. Arthur is sent to the kitchen as punishment after he tried to tell his lesson to a disbelieving Ector. Merlin arrives and magics the dishes to wash themselves. He then takes Arthur for another lesson, where he transforms Arthur and himself into squirrels. Merlin teaches Arthur about gravity, and about male-female relationships (as two female squirrels become infatuated with them). When they return to human form, Arthur's female squirrel cries sadly when she sees he is really a boy. When they return to the castle, Ector accuses Merlin of using black magic on the dishes after trying unsuccessfully to undo the enchanted spell on the dishes. Arthur defiantly defends Merlin, but Ector punishes Arthur by first setting him with a mountain of chores, then essentially told Arthur he cooked his goose for "popping off" and choosing another boy named Hobbs as Kay's squire. Arthur is devastated, but Merlin convinces him to continue with his education.

For his 3rd lesson, Merlin transforms Arthur into a sparrow. Arthur then accompanies Archimedes on a flying lesson. Arthur is attacked by a hawk and flies down the chimney of Madam Mim, a witch who is a rival to Merlin. Mim's magic uses trickery, as opposed to Merlin's scientific skill. Mim turns into a cat and chases Arthur around her cottage. Merlin arrives, having been summoned by Archimedes, and begins to rebuke Mim. Mim challenges Merlin to a Wizard's Duel, a battle of wits where the players try to destroy one another by transforming into different animals. Mim sets several ground rules, including the rules that only real animals may be used (no imaginary ones like pink dragons), and no disappearing. During the battle, both wizards transform themselves into a variety of creatures, with Merlin turning onto a turtle, a rabbit, a caterpillar, a walrus, a mouse, a crab, a goat, with Mim being a crocodile, a fox, a hen, an elephant, a tiger, a snake and a rhino.

Finally, Mim transforms into a purple dragon which is supposed to be against the rules (though Mim notes that she never explicitly outlawed purple dragons). Merlin is able to think quickly, and transforms himself into a germ, and infects her. Mim is put to bed, ill, though it is said she would recover in a few weeks.

At Christmas, Kay is knighted, but his squire Hobbs comes down with the mumps, so Ector reinstates Arthur as Kay's squire. Arthur excitedly tells Merlin and Archimedes the news. Archimedes is thrilled by this, but Merlin is disappointed that Arthur still prefers war games over academics. Arthur tries to explain that he cannot become a knight because he is an orphan, so a squire is the best position he can attain (and in his words, he doesn't know how to move forward in life, especially in times like this). This aggravates Merlin, who transforms himself into a rocket bound for Bermuda.

Ector, Kay, Pellinore, Arthur, and Archimedes travel to London for the tournament. Moments before Kay's match, Arthur realizes that he has forgotten Kay's sword at their inn, which is now closed because of the tournament. Archimedes notices a sword in a stone in a nearby churchyard and points it out to Arthur, who pulls the sword from the stone, unwittingly fulfilling the Sword in the Stone’s prophecy.

When Arthur returns with the sword, Ector and Sir Bart recognize it as the Sword in the Stone, and the tournament is stopped. Demanding that Arthur proves he pulled it, Ector replaces the sword in its anvil. Kay attempts to remove it himself, but he and none of the other men succeed in removing it. Finally, Wart manages to pull it out a second time with ease. The knights all proclaim, "Hail!! King Arthur!! Long live the king!!" as the crowd, Ector, and Kay all kneel to Arthur, asking for forgiveness.

The film cuts to Arthur, now crowned King, sitting in the throne room with Archimedes, feeling completely unprepared to take the responsibility of royalty. Overwhelmed by the cheering crowd outside, Arthur calls out to Merlin for help, who arrives (in 20th-century attire) and is delighted to find that Arthur is the King that he had seen in the future. Merlin tells the boy that he will rise and lead the Knights of the Round Table, accomplishing many amazing feats and becoming one of the most famous figures in literature and even in motion pictures (such as this film).