Earlier this week, the producers behind Netflix’s historic drama series, The Last Kingdom, announced feature film will be coming to the streamer following the show’s end. According to Deadline, the announcement was made during a panel at London MCM Comic Con on Sunday, Oct. 24. The panel included series’ actor Alexander Dreymond (Blood Ransom, Horizon Line) and producer, Nigel Marchant (Salting the Battlefield, Downton Abbey).
According to Deadline, the film, entitled Seven Kings Must Die, will complete the story told throughout the show’s fifth and final season, set for a premiere sometime next year. Dreymond will reprise his role as Uhtred and will be joined by many of the show’s main cast as well as new characters.
The series is based on Bernard Cornwell’s (War Lord, Sword Song) Saxon Stories, a novel series that chronicles the years predating modern-day England. According to Deadline, the series follows historic accounts of the Kingdom of Wessex’s fight against a rising Vikings’ presence in Southern England across a 45-year period. Cornwell even had a small cameo in the series as the character named Beornheard.
“It’s been such a privilege to tell Uhtred’s story for five seasons,” Dreymond said via Deadline. “I’m so grateful to our fans. They have been immensely loyal to The Last Kingdom and thanks to their support, the team is getting together for another round,” Dreymond stated according to Deadline.
According to Deadline, the series first aired in 2015 as a BBC2 production. Netflix joined as a co-producer for season two and went on to purchase the series for the remainder of its tenure. This past April, the show was renewed for its final season following the April 26th release date of the fourth season.
While Marchant promised this fifth season “fully concludes the series,” the film will provide “one more story that we wanted to tell,” via Deadline. Marchant and Dreymond will serve as executive producers along with Gareth Neame (The Woman in White, Turks & Caicos) and Mat Chaplin (Alex Rider, Curfew). Ed Bazalgette (Hannibal, Genghis Khan) is set to direct and Martha Hillier (The Last Kingdom, Holby City) will write the screenplay. Carnival Films, a subsidiary of NBC Universal International Studios, will produce.
The film is set to begin filming in early 2022.