Idris Elba was the first cast member announced for Guy Ritchie's KNIGHTS OF THE ROUNDTABLE. It seems that negotiations didn't work out, leaving the role of Bedivere open for Djimon Hounsou.
Hounsou will be filling the role of Bedivere, recast in this incarnation as something closer to Merlin. He's Arthur's mentor/advisor, which makes me think maybe he won't be making it through all six of these Camelot-centric movies WB wants to make.
It's a slight bummer Elba won't be donning medieval armor for his former ROCKNROLLA director, but Hounsou's got the voice and the steely gaze to make for a good surrogate Merlin. They were never going to top Nicol Williamson's turn as the character (look at Stephen Dillane's regrettable go as Merlin in Fuqua's KING ARTHUR), so changing the nature (and race) of the character is a great way to allow it to breathe on its own terms, without having to live up to that.
With Charlie Hunnam, Jude Law, and Hounsou onboard, this King Arthur update has already got a pretty solid cast lined up. Let's see who they get for the rest of Arthur's titular kanigits.
KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE eat ham and jam and Spam a lot on July 22nd, 2016.
