It's quite simple really - an evil witch from the time of Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table comes back to life after a millenia to wreak havoc upon the people of Earth. Merlin (who's still alive...and living in Manhattan) must gather together a group of new Knights to fight against the hag and save all mankind.
I know what you're thinking - It's so simple I wish I had thought of it. Well you didn't, and now Mr. Vaughn has so nicely written a gem of fantastic-ness to share with the world.
This is an utterly fantastic script. Really made me laugh. It's not just the premise or the characters too - literally the entire format and style of Vaughn's writing gives this script an amazing power. I spent most of my time reading this script laughing or smiling, or just enjoying the sheer pleasantness of it all.
One of the most amazing things, and subsequently worst things about the script is the character of Sir Michael Caine. I'm always a fan of putting cameos in films, especially when that cameo plays themselves for an extended period of time. The problem with these kind of fantasy scripts is that the celebrity of question more often than not doesn't want to be involved with the project or does not fancy the part, (or in extreme cases is no longer available - i.e. Patrick Swayze in the script Dan Mintner: Badass for Hire). That being said, I would personally pitch in money and affection to try and convince Caine to play the part. He needs to be in it.
The craziest part about this script is that Mr. Vaughn is able to subvert your expectations in every turn. There were several times where it teetered dangerously close to being cliche -- but instead ripped us out from our expectations and serves up a whole new level of awesome for us to feast upon. As I finished the script, there was a part at the very end that nearly made me pee myself. Really.
My only fear is that this will be given to a director who really doesn't know what to do with it. This is a property that needs to be given to the likes of Edgar Wright or Rian Johnson. If one of them were to be attached, I would be pleased.
One more photo of Caine -- because.
Title: Roundtable
Writer: Brian K. Vaughn
Pages: 99 (May 2008 draft)
Status: Still in Development
Opinion: Amazingly Great.
2 comments:
This is probably the most enjoyable script I've ever read, flat out. Beat out Kiss Kiss Bang Bang for that title, actually.
Also Jason Reitman would work well as director.
I'll have to read this, thanks for the tip!
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