A Knight’s Tale director Brian Helgeland revealed his past efforts to make a sequel to his 2001 medieval action-comedy classic were stymied by the Netflix algorithm which deemed a female protagonist would lead to box office flop.
He made his claim in an interview with Inverse. He told the outlet:
When we finished ‘A Knight’s Tale,’ we were already thinking about making the sequel as a pirate film.
The plot revolved around Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell) kidnapping Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon) and taking her to Constantinople. They end up as galley slaves after their boat is captured by pirates. There’s a prisoner on the boat who has a treasure map tattooed on his back, but he keeps getting flogged for indiscipline.
The guys volunteer to take turns getting flogged in this prisoner’s place, so the map isn’t erased. Sony didn’t want to do it.
Sony released A Knight’s Tale to global box office acclaim and returns of $117 million in the summer 2001, Inverse notes.
Australian actor Heath Ledger led the ensemble cast which also included Paul Bettany and Alan Tudyk.
Helgeland said a second idea for a sequel emerged based on a pitch from Bettany and Tudyk.
Actors dressed as knights pose during the photocall for “A Knight’s Tale” September 1, 2001 at the Deauville Festival of American Cinema in Deauville, France. (Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)
Australian actor Heath Ledger (R) poses with actress Berenice Bejo during the photocall for “A Knight’s Tale” September 1, 2001 at the Deauville Festival of American Cinema in Deauville, France. (Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)
By then Ledger had passed away but the actors’ pitch found a way to continue the story.
He said he pitched it to Sony because they own the rights and showed interest in making it with Netflix, releasing it as a Netflix movie, before adding, “My understanding is that Netflix tested this sequel idea through their algorithms, which indicated that it would not be successful. ‘A Knight’s Tale’ seems to get more popular with every passing year; it’s the strangest thing.”
Read Helgeland’s full interview with Inverse here