20th Century Fox has dropped the first trailer for The Kid Who Would Be King. There are several age-old stories that, for whatever reason, Hollywood will adapt over and over again, seemingly no matter what. Such is the case with the Arthurian legend, and here we have the latest big-budget big screen take on the tale. Though, admittedly, this looks pretty unique and comes with a major stable of talent attached. Not only does this serve as the long-awaited feature follow-up to Attack the Block for Joe Cornish, but the cast assembled in front of the camera is impressive as well.
The trailer starts us off with a kid trying to do the right thing in a world that is certainly very tough on kids in his shoes. Bullies will be bullies and that doesn't make his life easy. But then things get fantastical in a hurry when this unsuspecting 12-year-old finds Arthur's sword. Yes, King Arthur, as in Sword in the Stone Arthur. It then turns into a very charming, action-packed CGI fest that looks like it could be mixing The Goonies with Braveheart, or something of the like. Damned if this doesn't look like a ton of fun.
The Kid Who Would be King tells the story of Alex, who, as we see in the trailer, thinks he's just another nobody but has his heart in the right place. One fateful night, he stumbles upon the mythical Sword in the Stone, Excalibur. Following the discovery, Alex must band together with his friends and enemies. Together, with the legendary wizard Merlin, who isn't at all what we're used to, they must take on the evil Morgana and save the world.
It's been seven years since Attack the Block was released, which remains a criminally underseen sci-fi flick. It took quite some time to get Joe Cornish back in the director's chair, but this appears to be a nice use of his talents on a blockbuster scale. The cast is intriguing, as it includes Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible - Fallout) as the main villain and Patrick Stewart, who is only glimpsed in the trailer for a moment. Perhaps most intriguing is Ashbourne Serkis, the son of the great Andy Serkis, in the lead as Alex. The kid certainly has talented blood in his veins.
As fun as this looks, let us not forget that, just last year, Warner Bros. crashed and burned in a big ugly way with King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Though, that didn't have the same family-friendly, original take. We'll have to see if this fares any better when The Kid Who Would be King hits theaters on January 25, 2019. Be sure to check out the trailer from the Fox Family Entertainment YouTube channel for yourself below. We've also got a new poster which you can check out as well.
