The Last Kingdom Movie Sequel Will Be A Standalone Story

The Last Kingdom producer Nigel Marchant has revealed that the sequel film Seven Kings Must Die will tell a standalone story. The Last Kingdom, based on the novels by Bernard Cornwell, began streaming on Netflix back in 2015 and has since received much audience and critical acclaim. The series tells the story of the events that eventually lead to the birth of England, and stars Alexander Dreymon and Eliza Butterworth. The Last Kingdom season 5 is set to begin streaming this week, and has also been revealed to be the show’s final season.

Despite the show coming to a close, The Last Kingdom won’t stay away for too long. While the creators of the series have always maintained that it was their intention to produce a five-season arc based on Cornwell’s novels, Cornwell has since published three more books in addition to the original ten that were available at the time The Last Kingdom season 1 premiered. It has recently been revealed that the series’ creators will be reuniting one last time to produce a sequel to the series in the form of a film entitled Seven Kings Must Die. Seven Kings Must Die is currently filming in Hungary, and as of yet, no release date has been revealed.

In a recent interview with RadioTimes, executive producer Marchant has revealed that Seven Kings Must Die will act more as a standalone film than a continuation of The Last Kingdom. According to Marchant, he feels that the conclusion of The Last Kingdom season 5 is “the natural point to finish the TV series.” He has continued on to indicate that Seven Kings Must Die will act as more of an epilogue, and will exist independently from the main story in a way. Marchant believes that the film will be structured in a way that will make it accessible to every audience member, even if they haven’t seen a single episode of The Last Kingdom. See his full quote below:

“In terms of season 5, we felt these two central strands of the story were coming together and it was the natural point to finish the TV series. Over the five seasons there was a very definite beginning, middle and end, so it was a group decision that we came to. However, we did know there were a few more books (not to spoil anything!) following on from where we get to at the end of season 5. So we did start to talk to Netflix fairly early about whether we could tell that end piece of the jigsaw so that it would feel complete.”

With that said, however, Seven Kings Must Die will apparently not be existing entirely outside of the Last Kingdom narrative. The production of the film has been kept heavily under wraps to avoid revealing any spoilers for the end of The Last Kingdom season 5, however it has been revealed that series star Dreymon will once again be heading up the cast. Accompanying him will be a host of both returning and new characters, so fans don’t have to worry about the film becoming a complete departure from what they have grow to love.

Ultimately, Seven Kings Must Die will likely act both as a series epilogue for longtime viewers, and a way to grow the Last Kingdom fanbase. If the new film is truly as accessible as Marchant claims it will be, it is likely that The Last Kingdom will begin to gather a new audience in anticipation of its release. Viewers can take comfort in knowing that the date on which they must say goodbye to the world of The Last Kingdom has been pushed back. However, before they begin worrying about Seven Kings Must Die, it’s time for them to gear up for the release of The Last Kingdom season 5.

Source: RadioTimes