8 years ago, the failure of this epic fantasy adventure destroyed a six-film saga

In Hollywood, it’s normal to think big and want every big bet to turn into a long-term franchise. That’s exactly what the producers of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword thought at the time, but the truth is that they ended up having to cancel their plan for it to be the beginning of a saga of at least 6 films.

A big failure

It is clear that the plan was to build another cinematic universe in the style of Marvel, which was booming at that time. To achieve this, a different approach to the Arthurian myth was offered than usual, but the problem is that King Arthur – Legend of the Sword pleased almost no one. Proof of this is the meager 31% positive review score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Warner was also not very perceptive when choosing the release date, as the film was released in United States cinemas the week after the arrival of Guardians of the Galaxy 2. The public continued to prefer to bet on Marvel superheroes and Guy Ritchie’s film had to be content with opening in third place.

The big failure, which The Hollywood Reporter pointed out would cause losses worth $150 million, happened just weeks before another disaster that dominated almost all the headlines: the version of The Mummy, with Tom Cruise.

However, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was a much bigger fiasco if we go by the numbers. Just look at the box office: 410 million for The Mummy versus 148 million dollars for the Warner film.

To put it into perspective, the film had an investment of 300 million dollars between its budget and investment in marketing, while The Mummy reached 345 million. A little less investment, but much less revenue at the box office.

Regarding the 6 films, the idea was that each important character — from Merlin to Guinevere, including Lancelot — would appear and that, in the end, there would be a big crossover in the style of “The Avengers”. The failure of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword meant that the project did not go ahead.

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