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 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 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 to retrieve Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake. Uther uses the sword 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. Years later, Igraine gives birth to a baby and they named him Arthur. Nine months later, the kingdom of Camelot was invaded by Vortigern and the Saxon Knights. As a last resort to protect their child, Uther tells Igraine to take Arthur and run away as he pursue and defend the Saxons off but is wounded and later killed by Vortigern. Igraine brings Arthur to Merlin and tells him to give her son to Sir Ector, one of Uther's most trusted knights to raise him.

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. Arthur enjoys listening to Merlin's stories of the "Knights of Camelot," valiant warriors led by King Uther and Sir Malory 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 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 the Saxon facility.

The crew stay in Camelot for a long time and are looked after by an elderly Sir Malory, who retired from his knight duties ever since Uther's death, 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.

While the knights are preparing for the battle of Badon Hill, Arthur notices Kay's sword was stole by Saxon knights and he and Lancelot went after them and fought them off, but loses Kay's sword. 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 shows explains that he pulled Excalibur from the stone. But Lord Arnold does not believe him. As Arthur tries to pull the sword again, one of the knights named Sir Ulfin attempts to pull it out. While trying, Sir Ector, Sir Malory, and a knight called Sir Bart 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 Leondegrance 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 Leondegrance still accepts Arthur as the new king of England, since his daughter, Guinevere seems to approve of this.

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 brother'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 Excalibur that he pulled from the stone 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 her death. Morgan, shocked at her master's death, retreats with the remaining Saxons, vowing revenge on Arthur.

When they return to Camelot, Lord Arnold returns his vision and his ability to walk, but, seeing Arthur and his, as they are, he refuses to recognize them as heroes and Lancelot, Percival and Anna jeer Arnold, while singing Arthur’s praises. Reclaiming his rightful throne, Arthur knights Lancelot, Gawain, Percival, and Tristan and 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 they form the Round Table.

Cast

 * Tom Holland as Arthur, 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.
 * David Tennant 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, 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.
 * Eddie Redmayne as Sir Tristan, one of the knights in Camelot who teaches Guinevere archery.
 * Ryan Kwanten as Sir Kay, Ector's father 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.
 * 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 the facility 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.