After recently helming THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN, which served as Robert Redford's farewell to acting, David Lowery's next gig will see him bringing one of the most well known Arthurian legends to life. Deadline reports that Lowery will be teaming up with A24 for GREEN KNIGHT, a fantasy epic which will retell the medieval tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
The Arthurian story revolves around the chivalrous and loyal Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. After the Green Knight challenges any present to strike a blow against him so long as he would be willing to take a return blow in a year and a days time, Sir Gawain is the only one to accept. The young knight manages to behead the Green Knight, but amazingly, this doesn't faze him, as the Green Knight merely picks up his severed head and reminds Gawain to expect his return. The story has been adapted to the big-screen twice before, both times by Stephen Weeks, in GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT (1973) and SWORD OF THE VALIANT: THE LEGEND OF SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT (1984). The latter film starred Sean Connery as the Green Knight and Miles O'Keeffe as Sir Gawain. In addition to GREEN KNIGHT, it was also announced earlier today that Lowery would be teaming up with Cary Fukunaga (True Detective) to write a TV pilot for an adaptation of Joe Dante's coming-of-age sci-fi film EXPLORERS.