Holy shit, talk about a long wait! The King’s Daughter is one of those projects that held a lot of promise when first announced. It’s based on the Nebula Award winning novel The Moon and the Sun by Vonda N. McIntyre and combines multiple genres; fantasy, sci-fi, and historical romance. A film adaptation starring Pierce Brosnan, Kaya Scodelario, and directed by Soul Surfer‘s Sean McNamara was completed way back in 2014…and has been sitting idle ever since. Now that six year wait is over and a trailer is here, but was the wait worth it?
Almost like The Shape of Water with a little more palace intrigue, The King’s Daughter stars Brosnan as King Louis XIV whose quest for immortality causes him to drain the life force of a mermaid, played by Chinese actress Fan Bingbing. Scodelario stars as the king’s headstrong daughter who complicates things by befriending the creature.
The Jim Henson Co. did extensive effects work on the film, with a Chinese film compaony throwing in a then-record $20M, the most ever for a studio project produced outside of China.
The script was previously written by former Focus Features CEO James Schamus back when Natalie Portman was attached way back in 2002. There have been multiple revisions since then.
Onboard to co-star are Benjamin Walker, William Hurt, Rachel Griffiths, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Pablo Schreiber, and Julie Andrews.
The King’s Daughter will finally open in theaters on January 21st 2022.
