Jude Law may play the villain in at least one of Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur movies

By Dan Selcke | November 14, 2014 | 11:46pm

Aux Features Film

Jude Law may be close to landing a job for the next decade or so of his life. He’s currently in talks to play the villain in the first of six movies in Guy Ritchie’s upcoming trek through every possible detail of the Arthurian legend, which is scheduled to kick off with Knights Of The Round Table: King Arthur on July 22, 2016. Ritchie has already cast Pacific Rim star Charlie Hunnam as Arthur and relative unknown Astrid Berges-Frisbey as Guinevere, although negotiations to have Idris Elba play a “Merlin-esque figure” have reportedly fallen through. Ritchie is now on the hunt to replace him, and is seeking other actors who think being locked on a soundstage with Guy Ritchie for their foreseeable futures is worth the steady paycheck.

It’s not known exactly what villainous role Law is up for, or if he’s going to stick around for just one movie, or menace Arthur and friends for the whole series. Warner Bros. has been careful not to leak any plot details, bravely keeping them under wraps despite the fact that the story has been around for centuries and formed the basis for a great many movies, TV shows, and what have you. Given the relative ages of Law and Hunnam, it seems unlikely that Law is up for the role of Mordred, Arthur’s traitorous, illegitimate son, but he might make a good Lancelot, the knight who absconds with Arthur’s wife. If that’s the case, it indicates that the first movie will waste little time setting up background before getting right to the adultery.