It has been almost 4 years since we first heard that Guy Ritchie was planning on a faithful big screen adaptation of Arthurian legend. Finally, the project appears to be moving forward. According to Deadline, new attempts at bringing the tale to life are being made as the studio is planning a franchise based on King Arthur’s exploits that may ultimately become six separate feature films.

An earlier iteration of the project was to feature a screenplay by John Hodge (Trainspotting) and was to be based directly on Thomas Mallory’s 15th century work “Le Morte d’Arthur” (which itself is divided into eight different books). As Mallory’s compilation of tales is pretty much the definitive source material for Arthurian legend, it’s a good bet that Harold’s screenplay is similarly influenced.

The script or the first film was drafted by Joby Harold and will produce alongside Akiva Goldsman, Tory Tunnell and Lionel Wigram.