Timothée Chalamet headlines the trailer for Netflix’s star-studded historical drama, The King. The film reunites director David Michôd and Joel Edgerton for their third feature together, following their collaborations on the Melbourne crime drama-turned international hit Animal Kingdom (which Edgerton starred in) and the dystopian Australian western The Rover (which Edgerton cowrote, but did not act in). It further re-teams Michôd with Netflix after their first movie together, the Afghanistan War satire War Machine, failed to gain any traction in the 2017 awards race.
No doubt, the streamer is hoping for a different turnout this time. In addition to being anchored by Chalamet, The King is based on parts of Shakespeare’s Henriad (the plays Henry IV Part 1 & 2 and Henry V) and was adapted for the screen by Michôd and Edgerton, with the latter also costarring as the Falstaff to Chalamet’s young Henry V. With prestigious source material and a creative team like that, it’s little wonder The King is gearing up for a run on the festival circuit ahead of its release this fall.
With The King slated to premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 2, Netflix has gone and dropped its trailer online ahead of then. You can check it out below, followed by the film’s poster (which was only recently unveiled).
The King trailer footage has the same stark mood and grim tone as Michôd’s previous films, albeit this time in a period setting. It further alludes to the film’s political intrigue, as Hal (Chalamet), the “wayward prince and reluctant heir to the English throne”, is shown ascending to the throne in the wake of his not so beloved father’s death, but struggling to navigate this brave new world of back-stabbing and treachery, with naught but his pal John Falstaff (himself, an aging alcoholic knight) to turn to for advice. The impressive supporting cast also gets a shout-out, with Robert Pattinson (who previously worked with Michôd on The Rover) and Sean Harris briefly appearing as The Dauphin (aka. Louis, Duke of Guyenne) and Michael Williams, in turn. Meanwhile, Ben Mendelsohn makes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo as King Henry IV, with Lily-Rose Depp playing Catherine of Valois.
Netflix premiered a similarly violent historical action-drama, Outlaw King, on the festival circuit this time last year, but the film failed to take-off with critics ahead of its release on the streaming service. It should be interesting to see how The King fares by comparison, especially since Michôd’s previous work (while well-received) didn’t get a lot of love from the Academy either, save for Jacki Weaver’s role in Animal Kingdom. Either way, The King has the makings of a riveting medieval epic and joins an exciting Netflix fall slate that includes Craig Brewer’s Blaxploitation biopic Dolemite Is My Name, Noah Baumbach’s relationship drama Marriage Story, and Martin Scorsese’s longtime passion project, The Irishman.
