What Happened To The Netflix Knight's Tale Sequel & Why It's Causing Controversy
Released in 2001, writer-director Brian Helgeland's film "A Knight's Tale" — based on one specific section of "The Canterbury Tales" by George Chaucer — initially received middling reviews from critics, but it's become a beloved comedy throughout the years. Perhaps this is why Helgeland's revelation in a recent career retrospective with Inverse has fans shaken up — specifically, the revelation that Helgeland wanted to make a sequel, but a certain streamer didn't think that the film would perform well.
Asked about potential "A Knight's Tale" sequel ideas, Helgeland told interviewer Paul Moore that he went to Sony with an idea and that a possible second movie would have found an exclusive home on Netflix. So why hasn't Netflix announced this? Well, apparently they didn't think the idea would work for one unsettling reason: the algorithm.
"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," Helgeland told Moore. "My understanding is that Netflix tested this sequel idea through their algorithms, which indicated that it would not be successful.
Considering the enduring love for the film, Helgeland seemed reasonably confused: "'A Knight's Tale' seems to get more popular with every passing year; it's the strangest thing."
Director Brian Helgeland has always wanted a Knight's Tale sequel
According to Brian Helgeland, discussions about "A Knight's Tale" sequel have been happening for quite some time. "When we finished 'A Knight's Tale,' we were already thinking about making the sequel as a pirate film," Helgeland told the outlet, detailing how the villainous Count Adhemar of Anjou (Rufus Sewell) would kidnap Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon) ... at which point they're both captured by pirates. That said, Helgeland also revealed that two of his original "A Knight's Tale" stars came up with a brilliant way to honor the late Heath Ledger,
As Helgeland recalled, the idea focused on a possible daughter of Ledger's jousting champion William Thatcher. "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," the director said. "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." This is definitely a fascinating idea, but fans of the original film seem fairly split over whether or not they want a sequel.
Fans are divided over whether or not they really want a Knight's Tale sequel
Over on X (formerly known as Twitter), fans were pretty mixed as to whether or not they'd actually want a sequel to "A Knight's Tale" — particularly due to the loss of the late, great Heath Ledger, who died in 2008 at just 28 years old. Though Brian Helgeland had a pretty clear idea for a sequel involving the daughter of Ledger's character William Thatcher, some fans felt as if a sequel couldn't happen without him.
User @gyllenballz wrote, "heath ledger is what made a knight's tale so good a sequel would be the worst thing ever without him," while @Numbuh1NerdX agreed, expanding upon that thought: "I might be the only person on earth who is okay with this not happening. 'A Knight's Tale' is fantastic, but a sequel without Heath that's liable not to get a lot of that cast back...the odds that it was worthy of the name are just so low. I'd rather a spiritual successor."
Other users, like @KyleTsetso, were furious about the algorithm's ruling, saying, "lol i cannot imaging being in a position to green light films and saying 'no' to ['A Knight's Tale'] sequel just because a goddamn computer said so." @gonzaegonza91 seconded that: "We almost had '[A] Knight's Tale' sequel???? Why Netflix? Why you take the wrong decision in every step. Why?"
Perhaps it's @Gina_Marrone_, though, who had the best take: "Regardless of how you feel about '[A] Knight's Tale' sequel, the fact that studios are leaning so hard into never taking risks on art again because the machine told them not to is super f***ing awful."