'The Kid Who Would Be King' Trailer: A Kid And King Arthur's Sword Must Save The World

There aren't many live-action adventures for kids to enjoy in theaters nowadays, but Attack the Block director Joe Cornish is trying to inject some excitement back into the family film formula with his latest film.

The Kid Who Would Be King takes the classic Sword in the Stone story but brings it into modern day as a young British boy (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) finds himself inheriting King Arthur's mythical sword, making him the only line of defense between the world and the villainous enchantress Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson). His only chance of victory lies in training his fellow classmates to become his knights and fight her dangerous army.

Watch the new The Kid Who Would Be King trailer.

This latest trailer for The Kid Who Would Be King finally shows more of Patrick Stewart as the wizard Merlin, who appears in disguise as a teenage school boy (Angus Imrie). Honestly, the first trailer didn't do much to convince me that this could be an entertaining family film, but this new one gives me a little more hope. It's a little cheesy when it comes to the humor, but it has the spirit of the kind of movies that I loved growing up in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

If you need any more convincing to give this one a shot, Attack the Block producer Edgar Wright caught the movie earlier this month and offered some praise of his own:

Wright, the director of Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, isn't one to go dolling out compliments like that, so we should probably take his word for it. At the very least, it's a nice change of pace from the wacky family comedies and slapstick animated fare that usually hits theaters aiming at the lowest common denominator when it comes to pleasing kid audiences.

Old school magic meets the modern world in the epic adventure The Kid Who Would Be King. Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) thinks he's just another nobody, until he stumbles upon the mythical Sword in the Stone, Excalibur. Now, he must unite his friends and enemies into a band of knights and, together with the legendary wizard Merlin (Patrick Stewart), take on the wicked enchantress Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson). With the future at stake, Alex must become the great leader he never dreamed he could be.

The Kid Who Would Be King hits theaters on January 25, 2019.