The Kid Who Would Be King (2025)

The Kid Who Would Be King is a 2019 fantasy adventure film written and directed by Joe Cornish. A British-American venture, the film stars Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Tom Taylor, Rebecca Ferguson, and Patrick Stewart.[4] The plot follows a young boy who finds King Arthur's legendary sword Excalibur, and must then use it to stop an ancient enchantress from destroying the world. Distributed by 20th Century Fox, the film was released in the United States on 25 January 2019, and in the United Kingdom on 15 February 2019. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, but was a box office bomb with estimated losses for the studio ranging as high as $50 million.

Contents

  • 1 Plot
  • 2 Cast
  • 3 Production
  • 4 Reception
    • 4.1 Box office
    • 4.2 Critical reception
  • 5 Trivia
  • 6 References
  • 7 External links

Plot[]

Alexander "Alex" Elliot is a twelve-year-old boy who is starting a new term at school while struggling to adapt to his new surroundings. When his best friend Bedders is bullied by older students named Lance and Kaye, Alex comes to his aid but ends up in a fight with Lance. Alex, Lance, and Kaye are given detention by the headmistress while she tries to encourage Alex to live up to himself. Meanwhile, Lance and Kaye plot to harm Alex further. That night, the duo chase Alex as he is on his way home but Alex hides in a nearby construction site, where he finds a mysterious sword and removes it from its position. Taking the sword with him, Alex shows it to Bedders, and they discover that its markings identify it as Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur. Alex then playfully "knights" Bedders.

Elsewhere, the wicked sorceress Morgana awakens underground and sends her minions after Excalibur. The next day, a teenager appears from inside Stonehenge and presents himself at Alex's school as a new student. The boy reveals himself to Alex as the wizard Merlin, capable of aging backwards, but is also able to shift between his Arthurian counterpart. Alex plans to return the sword, wanting nothing to do with ancient myths. That night, Merlin saves Alex from a demon and explains that he has four days to destroy Morgana or she will enslave all of England. Morgana's demons can appear only at night and can only be seen by Alex and those he has knighted, but an upcoming total solar eclipse will enable her to emerge fully into the world. Alex realizes that these events parallel an inscribed storybook his estranged father once gave him. Alex concludes he descends from Arthur through his father and later recruits and knights Lance and Kaye, who fight beside Alex and Bedders, defeating three demons. Alex declares them a new Round Table. Merlin soon tasks Alex to find the entrance of Morgana's prison.

Believing his father is the key, Alex leads the group to Tintagel where he last saw his father. En route, Merlin trains them in swordsmanship. But when Morgana infiltrates the lesson, Lance betrays Alex and takes the sword for himself. Merlin barely saves them and Excalibur is broken when Alex and Lance come to blows in a marsh. Alex calls upon the Lady of the Lake who appears and restores the sword.Rededicating themselves to the quest, the four overcome a horde of demons by luring them over a cliff and arrive at Tintagel. Alex meets his aunt Sophie who tells him that his father was revealed to be an alcoholic, a fundamentally bad person who abandoned Alex's family, and that it was secretly his mother who inscribed the book. Merlin tells Alex that Excalibur is not handed down by birthright, but by individual merit.

Alex and his friends arm themselves and Alex uses the storybook to locate the entrance to the Underworld. Alex challenges Morgana who takes on a monstrous form and breathes fire, but Alex strikes her down and the children escape. Believing Morgana is dead, Alex returns Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. On the day of the eclipse, Merlin informs Alex that Morgana was merely wounded and Alex realizes that he violated the Chivalric Code by lying to his mother. In desperation, Alex tells her everything that has happened and stuns her by summoning the Lady of the Lake into the bathtub, where he regains Excalibur.

At school, Merlin ensorcells the faculty and Alex knights the entire student body. During the eclipse, Morgana appears with her entire army and now takes on a huge, semi-draconic form. The children fight back, using strategies combining medieval warfare with modern technology, but ultimately retreat to the rooftop. Merlin casts a magic spell to pull Morgana from the world and Alex decapitates her as she vanishes, dispelling all the demons. Alex, Bedders, Lance, and Kaye bid farewell to Merlin, who encourages them to become leaders.

Cast[]

  • Louis Ashbourne Serkis as Alexander "Alex" Elliot
  • Dean Chaumoo as Bedders
  • Tom Taylor as Lance
  • Rhianna Dorris as Kaye
  • Rebecca Ferguson as Morgana, an evil sorceress and old enemy of Merlin, her half-brother King Arthur, and all of Camelot.
  • Angus Imrie as Merlin, a wizard who was an ally of King Arthur. Because Merlin ages backwards, he has the appearance of a teenager after centuries have passed.
    • Patrick Stewart portrays Merlin in his physically older form.[5]
  • Denise Gough as Mrs. Elliot, Alex's mother
  • Noma Dumezweni as Mrs. Lee
  • Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Mr. Kepler
  • Mark Bonnar as Mr. Jeffreys
  • Alexandra Roach as Ms. Foster
  • Genevieve O'Reilly as Sophie, Alex's aunt
  • Nick Mohammed as Mr. Hyde
  • Adam Buxton as Stonehenge Tour Guide

Production[]

Principal photography on the film began on 25 September 2017 in London, and ended in March 2018.[6][7] The film was shot in Cornwall and at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden.[8] The visual effects were provided by DNEG, Rodeo FX, Peerless and TPO VFX, and were supervised by Joel Green, Antoine Moulineau, Laurent Gillet, Marc Hutchings, Jack Hughes and Frazer Churchill.[9]

Reception[]

Box office[]

Template:As of, The Kid Who Would Be King has grossed $16.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $11.8 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $28.5 million, against a production budget of $59 million.[10][11]

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Serenity, and was projected to gross $7–13 million from 3,521 theaters in its opening weekend.[12] It made $1.7 million on its first day and ended up debuting to $7.3 million, finishing fourth at the box office.[13] Following its initial performance, it was announced the film was expected to lose the studios around $50 million, taking into account its high marketing costs. The poor debut of the film was attributed to the medieval subject matter mixed with a modern context, which has had several flops in the past two years including King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and Robin Hood, and the difficulty of promoting a family film based on such material.[14] In its second weekend the film fell 42% to $4.2 million, finishing seventh.[15]

Critical reception[]

According to review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 153 reviews, and an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Kid Who Would Be King recalls classic all-ages adventures -- and repurposes a timeless legend -- for a thoroughly enjoyable new addition to the family movie canon."[16] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[17] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 71% and a "definite recommend" of 46%.[13]

Trivia[]

  • This was the last family film released by 20th Century Fox as a standalone company before its acquisition by The Walt Disney Company on March 20, 2019. However, the film did get some international releases after the completed acquisition by Disney. Also, the film's Blu-ray release marked the first Fox family Blu-ray release after the completed acquisition by Disney (but still not handled by Disney, though, ash Fox home media releases continued not to be handled by Disney until the home media release of Dark Phoenix).

References[]

  1. https://www.varietyinsight.com/print_featurefilm_releases.php
  2. https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-kid-who-would-be-king-review/5135753.article
  3. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=kidwhowouldbeking.htm
  4. https://www.screendaily.com/news/patrick-stewart-rebecca-ferguson-board-joe-cornishs-the-kid-who-would-be-king/5122669.article
  5. http://www.cornwalllive.com/whats-on/film/sir-patrick-stewart-play-merlin-539625
  6. "Filming Starts on Joe Cornish's The Kid Who Would be King", ComingSoon.net (25 September 2017). Retrieved on 26 September 2017.
  7. "Patrick Stewart, Rebecca Ferguson board Joe Cornish's 'The Kid Who Would Be King'" (in en), Screen (26 September 2017). Retrieved on 26 September 2017.
  8. Hards, Shannon (3 November 2018). "The Cornwall-filmed movie starring Sir Patrick Stewart is nearly here", cornwalllive.
  9. "THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING - The Art of VFXThe Art of VFX". Retrieved on January 2, 2019.
  10. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named BOM
  11. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NUM
  12. Rubin, Rebecca (23 January 2019). "Will Oscar Nominations Give This Year’s Contenders a Box Office Boost?".
  13. 13.0 13.1 D'Alessandro, Anthony (27 January 2018). "‘Glass’ Leads Again At Weekend B.O., But Only A Handful Of Oscar Best Picture Noms Will See Boost". Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  14. "‘The Kid Who Would Be King’ Could Lose $50 Million at Box Office".
  15. D'Alessandro, Anthony (3 February 2018). "‘Glass’ Still Has Class With Third Weekend Win; ‘Miss Bala’ Fires Blanks In Lowest Super Bowl Frame In 19 Years – Sunday Final". Retrieved on 3 February 2019.
  16. "The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)". Fandango. Retrieved on 12 February 2019.
  17. "The Kid Who Would Be King Reviews". CBS Interactive. Retrieved on 12 February 2019.

External links[]

The Kid Who Would Be King (2025)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Kelle Weber

Last Updated:

Views: 5865

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (73 voted)

Reviews: 80% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Kelle Weber

Birthday: 2000-08-05

Address: 6796 Juan Square, Markfort, MN 58988

Phone: +8215934114615

Job: Hospitality Director

Hobby: tabletop games, Foreign language learning, Leather crafting, Horseback riding, Swimming, Knapping, Handball

Introduction: My name is Kelle Weber, I am a magnificent, enchanting, fair, joyous, light, determined, joyous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.