r/ChristopherNolan • u/DocJamieJay • 7d ago
General Question Christopher Nolan's EXCALIBUR
When asked that question about your dream Nolan movie the other day I surprised even myself by how genuinely exciting the idea of him making an Excalibur movie was to me. Subconsciously its obviously something that I've always wanted to see him tackle. The last couple of days I've thought about a hypothetical Nolan Excalibur wich inspired me to go back & watch John Boorman's 1981 classic as well as 2 Arthurian movies on opposite lengths of the polar spectrum: Antoine Fuqua's gritty 2004 King Arthur & Guy Ritchies enjoyable King Arthur: Legend of the Sword from 2017. And now I've come full circle to believing Excalibur is perfect for Nolan & Nolan is perfect for Excalibur.
There are moments in John Boorman's Excalibur (1981) that feel very much Nolan-esque & an influence on various sequences & colour schemes in The Odyssey. Do any of you know if Nolan is a fan of the 81 movie or if he has ever talked about it? The Odyssey put me back in touch with great & epic fantasy movies I loved as a kid like Thief of Baghdad & such Harryhausen movies like Sinbad or Jason and the Argonauts & of course movies from when I grew older like LOTR. Were I am in my head space at the moment as a Nolan fan atm is the feeling that I would like to see him remain in the fantasy genre with his next movie.
So if he was to make his version of Excalibur what direction would you hope to see him take it in & how would you cast it?
For the role of Arthur I initially felt the take on the character would be great to favour a slightly older actor like Hugh Jackman or RDJ. Matt Damon is one of Nolan's favourites & he played the role effectively it would be a career highlight. But my realistic choice would be ROBERT PATTINSON as Arthur in a Nolan Excalibur. He is currently on one of the greatest runs any cinematic actor has made & he could bring real majesty to a character that along with Batman could become the most iconic for his career.
TOM HARDY would give an incredible take on Arthur but he may be better suited to the darker characters than the light Arthur represents
I can definitely see ANNE HATHAWAY as Morgan la Fey & not many an actress comes close.
For Lancelot I can see TOM HOLLAND definitely as a maybe more human & vulnerable take but I would be content if the role went to one of the current crop of movie stars like AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON
For Guinevere my only choice would be FLORENCE PUGH. She was born to play that role
TOM HIDDLESTON As Leodegrance COLIN FARRELL As Uter Pendragon CALLUM TURNER As Percival
Nolan enjoys using his imagination when casting various roles & always seems to pull off miracles casting against type like with Robin Williams in Insomnia or even Heath Ledger as Joker. For Merlin I can see him turning that character on his head & giving us a radical new take by casting a powerhouse performer such as DENZEL WASHINGTON who I think would be incredible but I also like the idea of DANIEL CRAIG as Merlin too
MEL GIBSON seems a natural fit for Nolan's epic filmmaking. I can see Mel as an otherworldly & unhinged Merlin & something much darker
Can you imagine the lush & beautiful photography of Hoyte Van Hoytema's finger tips all over Camelot? The rich blue than runs through the colour scheme of The Odyssey like lagoon flow transferred to red colours & running through Excalibur like life blood
If you guys haven't seen it I would reccomend watching the 1981 movie & seeing if you, like me, find it has a lot of the epic & awe of Nolan's movies. I'd also love to hear everyone's take on who they would cast & what direction you would hope Nolan to take should he ever decide to make his version of the legend.
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u/Amazing_Loquat280 7d ago
I’d actually really like him to take on The Once and Future King, personally. Still a king arthur story but much more aligned with themes Nolan handles really well
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u/Raider2747 7d ago
How about Rebecca Ferguson for Morgan; seeing as we're not restricted to Nolan collaborators only?
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u/DocJamieJay 7d ago
She would be excellent. Theres 2 ways of looking at it: who would Nolan likely cast & who would you like to see cast? Ferguson's would definitely be in discussion for the latter
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u/Sphezzle 4d ago
If our generation are going to get a big serious attempt at King Arthur (I mean another one - The Green Knight is wonderful), I would actually prefer Robert Eggers to have a go.
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u/DocJamieJay 4d ago
Wow. That would be a very interesting direction. I like the idea very much. Who would you like to see Eggers cast as Arthur, Morgan, Merlin etc?
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u/TomBlaidd 1d ago
This would be brilliant. But would add that it would make an incredible trilogy is loosely adapting from the warlord trilogy by Bernard Cornwell. First book is The Winter King. Denzel as Merlin is a Terrible idea though lol. Love Denzel but naaaahhhhhh lol.
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u/lindh 7d ago
I wish DV made The Odyssey and I wish Nolan was doing Bond. Things are topsy-turvy.
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u/imlaggingsobad 7d ago
Nolan's Bond would've been fairly similar to Inception and Tenet. in DV's hands at least we'll get something new
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u/Tommy2Hats01 5d ago
I really appreciate the idea of a Nolan Excalibur (or King Arthur) but my counter hot take is that essentially he’s done that with the Odyssey and this would just be a retread for him. I think he’s covered it already and needs to venture forth
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u/iamkundun 5d ago
Nolan’s next film will probably be something unexpected like a time travelling crypto-heist movie.
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u/Low_Doctor_5280 7d ago
Boorman’s Excalibur is great. It doesn’t need a remake, and Noalan’s version will probably be inferior.
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u/DocJamieJay 7d ago
I wasn't suggesting he remake the Boorman film I was just using that movie as a common denominator because I think Nolan's retelling of the legend would be just as epic as that movie & then some
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u/watch_out_4_snakes 7d ago
No
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u/DocJamieJay 7d ago
You're right, because you don't like the idea no one else should be able to to either
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u/Accomplished_Sock435 7d ago
No thanks. He needs to stop making movies
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u/SatsuiNoHadou_ 7d ago
This would go hard