Director David Lowery has been busy. We already learned that he is teaming up with Cary Fukunaga to write a TV reboot of the 1985 sci-fi film Explorers, and on top of that he’s now got his own solo project. The director will re-team with A24 to direct the follow-up to his outlaw drama The Old Man And The Gun by directing the fantasy epic Green Knight.
The film will be based on the 14th century tale of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight, which centres around the Green Knight, who challenges anyone to strike him with his gold sword. In exchange, the offending knight must take a return blow one year and one day afterwards.
Gawain accepts and beheads the Green Knight, only for the knight to calmly pick up his head, walk away, and remind Gawain of his end of the bargain.
This marks yet another change of genre for Lowery, who has frequently taken on projects far different in tone from his previous one. His 2013 film Ain’t Them Bodies Saints was a Terrence Malick-esque western, and he followed that up with the Disney fantasy Pete’s Dragon, before going on to make the very existential A Ghost Story with A24.
Lowery has spoken of his desire to be chameleon-like in terms of subject matter, so Green Knight fits right in line with that mantra. A24 have also shown a desire to back inventive, unusual projects, and have done so with huge success, so this instantly becomes a fascinating project to track.
Yet it’s unclear if Green Knight will actually be Lowery’s next project. He’s currently penning a live-action Peter Pan film for Disney which has been in the works for some time, but may have recently reached a point where those involved are happy with the script. Throw in the aforementioned Explorers pilot, and Lowery has his finger in plenty of pies.
So we’ll wait and see if Lowery gives Green Knight the green light to become his main focus. With potential Oscar success to come for The Old Man And The Gun lead Robert Redford, he could quickly be an even more in-demand director, so it’s smart of A24 to lock him up for another project now.
#Peace.Love.GreenKnight
