Paramount Plots Medieval Times Family Comedy
Paramount is taking Medieval Times from dinner theatre to the multiplex.
The studio is in early development on a live-action family comedy built around the Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament show, Deadline reported in an exclusive published on 8 October. The film is planned as a four-quadrant comedy, trade shorthand for a story designed to pull in younger and older viewers, male and female alike. It is still at the starting gate, with no cast or release date announced.
Eric Appel is attached to direct, with Blaise Hemingway set to write the script. The pair came aboard after a pitch sale, which means Paramount bought the idea on the strength of the pitch before a finished script existed, according to Deadline. That kind of sale is common for high-concept comedies where the studio wants to lock up the premise early.
The story stays close to the show itself. It follows a struggling employee at the Orlando Medieval Times who unleashes a real 9th-century knight and an ancient evil necromancer. To save the castle — and the world — the employee must team up with the warrior.
John Davis and Chris Bender will produce the film. John Fox, Jeremy Stein, Jake Weiner and Jake Wagner will executive produce alongside Perico Montaner, who is President and CEO of Medieval Times. Executive producers typically help steer a project and protect the interests of key partners, including rights holders.
The road here has been long. Efforts to turn Medieval Times into a film go back to 2013, when Benderspink teamed with Todd Garner's Broken Road to lock down the rights. The brand itself expanded to North America in 1983 with the opening of a Kissimmee, Florida, location near Walt Disney World. Since then it has entertained more than 72 million guests, Deadline reported.
Appel directed Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe. Hemingway previously wrote Clifford the Big Red Dog for Paramount, another family title built around a well-known brand.
For anyone who has spent an evening in the stands, the set-up needs little explaining. A modern worker. A real knight. The fate of the castle on the line.
