The Kid Who Would Be King

"An army to fight. A demon to slay. A world to save. No pressure."

2019 2h 0m EN

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 876

ActionAdventureFantasyFamily

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Old-school magic meets the modern world when young Alex stumbles upon the mythical sword Excalibur. He soon unites his friends and enemies, and they become knights who join forces with the legendary wizard Merlin. Together, they must save mankind from the wicked enchantress Morgana and her army of supernatural warriors.

“An army to fight. A demon to slay. A world to save. No pressure.”

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Cast

Louis Ashbourne Serkis
Alexander "Alex" Elliot
Dean Chaumoo
Bedders
Tom Taylor
Lance
Rhianna Dorris
Kaye
Denise Gough
Mrs. Elliot
Angus Imrie
Merlin
Patrick Stewart
Old Merlin
Rebecca Ferguson
Morgana

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joe Cornish
Writers: Joe Cornish
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $59M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 54% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 7 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joe Cornish, shot by Bill Pope. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Electric Wave Bureau. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jonathan Amos shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Louis Ashbourne Serkis and Dean Chaumoo and Tom Taylor carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "An army to fight. A demon to slay. A world to save. No pressure.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joe Cornish directs. Bill Pope behind the camera. Electric Wave Bureau scores. Jonathan Amos cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $59M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Earned back only 54% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 7 years ago.
4Directed by Joe Cornish, shot by Bill Pope. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Electric Wave Bureau. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Jonathan Amos shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Louis Ashbourne Serkis and Dean Chaumoo and Tom Taylor carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "An army to fight. A demon to slay. A world to save. No pressure.".
9IMDB entry: tt6811018 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 13 themes, including "magic", "sword", "menace", "cornwall, england".

The technical file

Cinematography: Bill Pope
Original score: Electric Wave Bureau
Editing: Jonathan Amos
Production design: Marcus Rowland
Costume design: Jany Temime
Makeup / hair: Sharon Martin
VFX supervisor: Frazer Churchill
Sound: Jeremy Price
Stunt coordinator: Paul Jennings
Runtime: 120 min · 2h 0m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $59,000,000
Box office: $32,140,970
Return: 54% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)

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Joe Cornish

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2019-06-10
★ 4/10
Man, I was ready to absolutely rail on this movie before I realised that what I had thought was the end was just the end of the second act. Now don't get me wrong, I still very much did not enjoy The Kid Who Would Be King, but the actual ending did turn me around on it somewhat. Hard to know for certain if this will play well for actual kids. Maybe they'll even take the positive messages on board and not the bad ones. But I don't know that a good message or a good time will be taken away from The Kid Who Would Be King by children, I doubt it, but it doesn't seem impossible. Very disappointing after Attack the Block. Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product.
tmdb516161672024-09-01
★ 4/10
This is one of those films that is able to be skipped and not have ever seen. Now I'm saying that it's terrible movie, because I don't think the storyline itself is terrible whatsoever. I think the problem with this movie that made the audience and myself be so down and against it, was clearly the casting choices. The casting Director was definitely the fault in the failure of this film. The lead actor is not a lead actor, he does not fit the part nor fit the role. His side kicks and friends are poorly Cast. If anybody in that group of four with cast correctly, I would have to give it to Lance only, and he could stay on the rest had to be redone. The only characters that fit their parts 100% and I would leave would be Merlin and Morgana, those two were definitely done correctly, they played their parts perfectly. But overall, because of how unrealistic it is for this cast to be the zeros, it just threw it off the whole time and you could not get engaged into the film. So I definitely say this is not a film that you have to run to, it's something just to turn on while you're vacuuming.