A24's upcoming medieval-fantasy film The Green Knight has seemingly had its release pulled in the UK. A dark retelling of the classic Arthurian legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the film stars Dev Patel as Gawain and The Witch's Ralph Ineson as the eponymous knight. The Green Knight follows Gawain as he embarks on a quest to confront the Green Knight who is presented as a large tree-like creature. The original story has been adapted numerous times over the years, perhaps most notably in 1984 as Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight which starred Miles O'Keeffe as Gawain and Sean Connery as the Knight, although it deviated greatly from the source material.
The Green Knight was originally set to premiere at South by Southwest on March 16, 2020 but this was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Director David Lowery was also apparently dissatisfied with the final cut of the film and spent six months re-editing it as a result. It's unclear what exactly has changed between cuts, but Lowery reportedly primarily focused on improving the film's pacing and giving more screen-time to Alicia Vikander's character.
Releasing on July 30th, The Green Knight was slated for release in the UK a week later on August 6th. However, with just over two weeks to go, the film has seemingly been pulled from UK release. The move was first reported on Twitter by film critic Robbie Collins of the Daily Telegraph, but this has since been corroborated by The Hollywood Reporter. No official statement by A24 or distributors Entertainment Film Distributors. However, It has been reported elsewhere that several cinemas across the UK, such as Cardiff's Chapter Arts Centre, have confirmed that they will not be screening the film, having allegedly been told to pull all posters and trailers effective immediately.
As noted, there has been no official statement given on the matter, nor has there been a reason given for the decision to pull The Green Knight from theatrical release. However, The UK has seen a significant rise of COVID-19 infections due to the Delta-variant of the virus over the past few weeks. This spike may have caused some trepidation among film distributors in case of another lockdown. Interestingly though, THR also reported speculation online that A24 may have been offered a last-minute streaming deal from the likes of Netflix or another platform.
While the potential reasons for The Green Knight being pulled are uncorroborated, if the latter reason proves to be true then it would make sense that A24 would wish to maximize revenue and viewership. A24 clearly has great faith in the project, having scheduled it for summer release twice. However if the company are not expected a suitable return on investment, then it makes sense to opt for a streaming release over a theatrical one; especially when cinemas are reporting low-attendance levels.
That said, it does represent another significant blow for cinemas in the UK. Already struggling under the weight of COVID restrictions that limit audience attendance, as well as a lack of attendance in general, the addition of studios pulling their films from release will only add to the pressures that the theaters are facing. There has been no word on whether The Green Knight's release in the US has similarly affected, but considering that it is just over a week away, it would be a risky move to the say the least.
Source: THR
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