The Green Knight Director David Lowery Is Releasing A Secret Short Film In One Specific Place

Despite the egregious snubbing of David Lowery's "The Green Knight" during last year's Academy Awards ceremony, real ones know that the film was one of the very best of 2021. The epic medieval fantasy film from A24 based on the 14th-century poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," saw Dev Patel as King Arthur's nephew Gawain, who sets out on the ultimate journey to test his bravery and come face-to-face with the titular Green Knight.

The film is about to receive a special Blu-ray collector's edition (not to be confused with the 2021 Blu-ray release) next month, and according to our friends over at Collider, one of the included special features will be a 20-minute companion short film from Lowery called "The Oak Thorn & The Old Rose of Love." The short film will loosely connect to "The Green Knight," focusing on two characters that share knowledge in "unconventional ways."

Starring in the short are Jackie Earle Haley ("Bad News Bears," "Watchmen") and Sylvia Hoeks ("Blade Runner 2049," "The Girl in the Spider's Web"), in this highly stylized connective piece. Collider learned of the new piece during an interview with Lowery, who mentioned the short will feature the same aesthetic and filmmaking elements that had us drooling over "The Green Knight." If you've been missing gorgeous cinematography, breathtaking set pieces, stunning wordplay, and ethereal music, Lowery's here to help fill the void. The story is based on a different tale in King Arthur's mythos, and the Blu will be the only way to see the short.

"I'd already been thinking about adapting this particular story, and as we were coming up with ways to make the Blu-ray extra special, I thought it would be nice to have an adjunct movie on the disc," said Lowery. His love of physical media was a huge influence on having the short film released as a Blu-ray exclusive, loving "the idea of having this short film that would never be released online, that would only ever be available on the big screen or on this disc." Knowing that the internet is going to be the internet, Lowery also said, "I'm sure someone will rip it right away, but in theory, this short film is an exclusively physical object."

"The Oak Thorn & The Old Rose of Love" was a bit of a secret project, with Lowery confessing that no one really knew he was making it. The project was brought to life with a skeleton crew and post-production took place across the country, with Lowery telling Collider, "I edited it in LA, my friend Nick supervised the VFX in New Orleans, Johnny Marshall mixed the sound in his garage in Dallas, Andrew did the color in LA, my producers Toby and James and Lisa put everything together in Dallas, and Daniel Hart wrote the score in between recording sessions for 'Peter Pan & Wendy' and 'Interview With The Vampire.'"

The Blu-ray special edition of "The Green Knight" featuring the short will be available on November 25, 2022.