Suddenly everyone’s in love with Excalibur. A few weeks ago we learned here about a new Excalibur film being written by Warren Ellis and produced by the some of the minds behind 300. Now THR says Bryan Singer is set to produce a remake of the 1981 John Boorman film for Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures.

Are they the same movie, or different? The Hollywood Reporter’s story makes no mention of the Ellis project, but then THR tends to ignore anything that wasn’t sent to them in a press release. There’s some connection there. The Ellis movie is being produced by the 300 team, who worked with Warners and Legendary on that picture. It could be that they’re the same… or it could be that they’re different films which probably means the Ellis version is shit out of luck and that Singer’s will get made while theirs gets lost in development hell. Everything is still in the early stages with Warner Bros. trying to tie up the remake rights which it shares with Boorman.

Excalibur is generally regarded as the definitive film version of the classic Arthurian legend. Dark, gritty, and violent it starred luminaries such as Helen Mirren, Liam Neeson, and Patrick Stewart. It’s impossible to imagine it being improved on, but since there’s an Arthur movie made every five minutes, it sort of makes sense to go back to the version of the legend that worked best on screen.