‘The Green Knight’ Trailer: Dev Patel Leads the Medieval Fantasy Epic You’ve Been Waiting For
Zack Sharf
A24 released the first trailer for David Lowery‘s “The Green Knight” in February 2020, way back before the movie was going to open in May 2020 and world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. Of course the pandemic upended those plans, and now “The Green Knight” is set for a July 2021 release and is easily one of the most anticipated indies of the summer movie season. Dev Patel stars as Sir Gawain, King Arthur’s reckless nephew, who embarks on a quest to confront and defeat the eponymous green-skinned stranger.
“The Green Knight” marks a reunion between Lowery and A24. The indie studio was behind the release of “A Ghost Story,” which opened to critical raves in 2017 and grossed nearly $2 million on a $100,000 production budget. IndieWire named “A Ghost Story” the 52nd best film of the last decade, praising Lowery for his surprising and playful touch to such an existential and overwhelming narrative.
A24’s official synopsis for “The Green Knight” reads: “An epic fantasy adventure based on the timeless Arthurian legend, ‘The Green Knight’ tells the story of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), King Arthur’s reckless and headstrong nephew, who embarks on a daring quest to confront the eponymous Green Knight, a gigantic emerald-skinned stranger and tester of men. Gawain contends with ghosts, giants, thieves, and schemers in what becomes a deeper journey to define his character and prove his worth in the eyes of his family and kingdom by facing the ultimate challenger.”
Lowery is no stranger to reimagining classic stories. The director’s spin on Disney’s “Pete’s Dragon” earned rave reviews when it opened in 2016, so much so that Disney set Lowery to take on a new telling of the Peter Pan story. Lowery’s “Peter Pan & Wendy” is now in production with newcomers Alexander Molony and Ever Anderson starring in the title roles. The movie also features Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell and Jude Law as Captain James Hook. “Peter Pan & Wendy” won’t be released until 2022.
As for “The Green Knight,” Lowery’s supporting cast includes Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, Kate Dickie, Barry Keoghan, and Ralph Ineson. Lowery said last summer he was rushing to get the movie done for its SXSW premiere, so the pandemic delay gave him more room to breathe with the film in post-production.
“All I can say is that at some point audiences will see it,” Lowery said at the time. “And they’ll see it in the best way possible, given the circumstances. Hopefully, that’s in theaters. Hopefully, theaters survive. I’m a big-time defender of the theatrical experience, and one of the things I love about A24 is that they are as well.”
A24 will release “The Green Knight” in theaters July 30. Watch the new official trailer for the indie epic in the video below.
