Warner Bros.’ big-screen retelling of the King Arthur legend ARTHUR & LANCELOT has moved closer to actuality with the casting of both its principal leads. 

Joining the project is GAME OF THRONES actor Kit Harington (Jon Snow on the HBO show), who’ll portray King Arthur to Joel Kinnaman’s Lancelot. The rising star Kinnamon will already be familiar to fans of THE KILLING, and can soon be seen in Fincher’s GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO and next year’s alien invasion flick THE DARKEST HOUR. Harington is relatively new to the industry, but already has SILENT HILL: REVELATION under his belt. Actually, that might not necessarily be a good thing given the wildly uneven original. And while we’re at it, why’s everything using the Revelation subtitle these days? Nevermind. Here’s the two handsome brutes themselves:

  

In addition, director David Dobkin (FRED CLAUS, MR WOODCOCK, uh-oh) is also pursuing Gary Oldman for the role of Merlin, something we can definitely get behind. It’s worth noting though that the acclaimed cockny thesp is also considering a role in the live-action AKIRA remake, so it’ll likely come down to one or the other.

All involved clearly have potential franchise in mind here, with the story geared towards an origin tale. The character of Guinevere has also been revealed to feature, but only in a cameo capacity – her appearance serving to set up future entries should it hit big.

The re-imagining will reportedly have a contemporary feel and a light-hearted tone, akin to Guy Ritchie’s approach to his SHERLOCK HOLMES franchise.

Just as long as they promise to top that awful version with Clive Owen and Keira Knightley back in ’04, count us in.

Plans are set to have the movie go before cameras in March 2012 for a 2013 release.

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