When I spoke with director David Dobkin this summer while he was promoting the R-rated body switching comedy The Change-Up, we talked a bit about his next project, a dramatic epic about King Arthur. When I brought up the subject of casting, he mentioned that it was still up in the air, but that it would mostly consist of unknown British actors. Apparently the term he was actually looking for at the time was, "actors on massively popular television shows."
Following news from last month that The Killing star Joel Kinnaman had signed on to play Lancelot, Variety reports that Kit Harington has been selected by Warner Bros. to play the second lead in Arthur & Lancelot. While he is more of an unknown than Kinnaman, who had massive success in Sweden before coming over to America, Harington is widely recognized for playing Jon Snow on the incredibly popular HBO series Game of Thrones (in which, coincidentally, he also got to wield a sword). The role will actually be only the second film role for the actor, as he recently wrapped production on the video game adaptation Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, in which he will play Vincent Carter. The trade says that Harington beat out the likes of Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) and Richard Maddon (a Game of Thrones co-star) for the part.
Though they are still working on scheduling details, it's expected that they will be able to start production early next year. What do you think of Jon Snow getting his big break?
