A Knight’s Tale director and writer Brian Helgeland revealed that Netflix and the company’s algorithm shut down a possible sequel for the hit film that starred Heath Ledger, Rufus Sewell, Paul Bettany, Mark Addy, Alan Tudyk, Shannyn Sossamon, Berenice Bejo, and Laura Fraser.
Paul Bettany as Geoffrey Chaucer, Laura Fraser as Kate, Heath Ledger as William Thatcher, Mark Addy as Roland, and Alan Tudyk as Wat in A Knight’s Tale (2001). Sony Pictures
In an interview with Inverse discussing the revenge epic Man on Fire that he wrote, Helgeland was asked on a status update for a potential A Knight’s Tale sequel.
He responded, “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 kidnapping Jocelyn 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.”
Heath Ledger as William Thatcher in A Knight’s Tale (2001). Sony Pictures
While that initial idea was rejected, Helgeland revealed that Paul Bettany and Alan Tudyk approached him with another version that sounds very similar to a gender-swapped remake, or in this case a resequel.
Helgeland shared, “There was another idea pitched to me that was all about William’s daughter. Paul Bettany called me after he had dinner with Alan Tudyk, and the guys had an idea that William had passed away during a war. However, William has a teenage daughter who wants to joust, but she’s not allowed to because she’s a woman. She tracks down the gang and they agree to teach her how to joust, but she has to hide who she is. They cut her hair short and she speaks with a deep voice, et cetera.”
“I pitched it to Sony because they own the rights, and it seemed like they were interested in making it with Netflix, releasing it as a Netflix movie. 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,” he concluded.
Heath Ledger as William Thatcher in A Knight’s Tale (2001). Sony Pictures
If you are unfamiliar with A Knight’s Tale it tells the story of William Thatcher, a peasant squire who poses as a knight to compete in a jousting tournament. After the death of his master, Sir Ector, William takes on his identity and, with the help of his friends Wat and Roland as well as the traveling bard Geoffrey Chaucer, begins to compete in tournaments, winning fame and fortune. Along the way, he falls in love with a noblewoman, Jocelyn, and earns the respect of a count, Adhemar. However, his deception is threatened to be exposed, and William must confront his own identity and the class system that has defined his life.
This sequel pitched by Bettany and Tudyk appears to follow all the same plot beats as the original film, but instead of Thatcher doing it, it would be his daughter.
Maybe it’s possible that Netflix has figured out that audiences are not interested in gender-swapped reboots given the box office failures of films like Ghostbusters, Men in Black, Eternals, and Ocean’s 8.
Heath Ledger as William Thatcher in A Knight’s Tale (2001). Sony Pictures
What do you make of Helgeland’s comments that the Netflix algorithm shut down the gender-swapped resequel for A Knight’s Tale?
It is a brilliant way of not being pressured to do projects based on politics.
“The computer said no”.
Give Netflix’s algorithm a break, gender swap remakes are almost never successful. The Force Awakens is the exception that prove the rule, it still tanked the franchise in the long run..