The 2001 medieval action comedy movie A Knight’s Tale received mixed reviews upon its launch. According to director Brian Helgeland, both Sony and Netflix passed on possible sequels for the film.
Speaking to Inverse, Helgeland recently revealed that after release in 2001, the team behind had an idea for a sequel film. The project would be a pirate movie revolving around Rusuf Sewell’s Count Adhemar taking Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon) to Constantinople. However, Sony declined to do the movie at the time.
“When we finished A Knight’s Tale, we were already thinking about making the sequel as a pirate film,” said Helgeland. “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.”
Netflix and Sony decided to pass up on potential sequel
Helgeland noted that Paul Bettany (who played Geoffrey Chaucer in the film) also pitched an idea to him that would see Heath Ledger‘s character William Thatcher’s daughter going on an adventure to become a knight herself. The director said he pitched the idea to Sony, who seemed interested in making it with Netflix, but that Netflix ultimately decided not to move forward after putting the idea through its algorithms.
“There was another idea pitched to me that was all about William’s daughter,” Helgeland said. “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.”
