Medieval (film)

Medieval (Jan Žižka or Warrior of God[4]) is an upcoming Czech action historical drama film by Petr Jákl.[5][6] It is about the life of Jan Žižka, a Bohemian military commander who never lost a battle. The film is set prior to the Hussite Wars (1419-1434), when Žižka was young. It tells the story of how Žižka became a famous military commander.[7] It is the most expensive Czech film ever made.[8][9][10]

Medieval
English poster
Directed by	Petr Jákl
Produced by	Cassian Elwes Petr Jákl
Screenplay by	Petr Jákl
Story by	Petr Jakl Sr.
Starring	Ben Foster Michael Caine Til Schweiger William Moseley Matthew Goode Sophie Lowe
Music by	Philip Klein[1]
Cinematography	Jesper Tøffner
Edited by	Steven Rosenblum
Production companies	WOG FILM s.r.o.
Distributed by	Bioscop[2]
Release date	2021[2]
Country	Czech Republic
Language	English
Budget	500 million KČ[3]

Plot

Jan Žižka is a member of a mercenary group that does dirty work for nobles. His new task is to save King Wenceslaus' beautiful lover Catherine. The situation gets complicated when Žižka personally falls in love with the king's lover.

Cast

• Ben Foster as Jan Žižka
• Michael Caine as Lord Boreš
• Til Schweiger as Rosenberg
• William Moseley as Jaroslav, Žižka's brother
• Matthew Goode as King Sigismund
• Sophie Lowe as Catherine
• Karel Roden as Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia[11]
• Roland Møller as Torak
• Ondřej Vetchý as Ondřej
• Marek Vašut as Matthew
• Jan Budař as Mark
• Vinzenz Kiefer as Conrad
• Magnus Samuelsson as Lars
• Werner Daehn as German
• Alistair Brammer as Freddy
• Jennifer Armour as Barbara
• Sean Connor Renwick as David
• David Bowles as Giovanni
• Christopher Rygh Mick
• Guy Roberts as Cyril
• Roman Šebrle as Javier
• David Svoboda as Mercenary
• Rudolf Kraj as Mercenary
• Alisher Fahriev as Cuman mercenary
• Ben Cristovao as Cuman mercenary
• Lukáš Krpálek as Villager
• Dan Vávra as Villager
• Aneta Kernová as Maria

Production

In 2013, Petr Jákl announced that he was preparing to make a film about Jan Žižka. He estimated a possible budget of 85 million Czech koruna.[12] During 2014, it was scheduled for a 2016 release.[13] Work on the film started after Jákl finished Ghoul in 2015.[7] American agency William Morris Endeavor has assisted with recruitment of actors for the film. Jákl stated that Žižka would most likely be played by a foreign actor.[14]

In August 2016, the process of recruiting extras for battles was started.[15] The first round of recruitment concluded in January 2017,[8] with thousands of volunteers.[16]

In July 2017, Jákl announced that shooting would start in Spring 2018, and that it would take place in South Bohemia and Central Bohemia. He also stated that Žižka would definitely not be played by a Czech actor, saying that his USA contacts were talking with the agents of some American actors.[14] Cassian Elwes became the film's producer on 6 March 2018.[17][18]

Ben Foster was announced to be cast as Jan Žižka on 24 August 2018. Shooting was scheduled to start on 17 September 2018.[19] Michael Caine was announced on 7 September 2018 to be cast as the fictional character of Lord Boreš.[20] Matthew Goode was cast in November as King Sigismund.[21]

The film was officially announced on 13 September 2018. The main cast included Til Schweiger, Marek Vašut, and Sophie Lowe, among others. The final budget was announced as 500,000,000 CZK (23,000,000 USD).[3][22][23] Shooting started on 17 September 2018,[24] continuing near Prague until October 2018.[25] Shooting then moved to various Czech castles such as Křivoklát Castle[26] before concluding in December 2018. Shooting took place primarily in Central Bohemian and South Bohemia.[27][28]

See also

• Jan Žižka (1955 film)
• List of most expensive Czech films

References

1. "Rozhovor: Petr Jákl stále chystá nejdražší český film a věří v lepší zítřky". Fandíme Filmu (in Czech). 21 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
2. "JAN ŽIŽKA". BIOSCOP - Distribuční společnost filmů (in Czech). Retrieved 18 December 2019.
3. "Režisér Petr Jákl chystá nejdražší český film historie. Jan Žižka bude stát stovky milionů a hrát v něm budou zahraniční hvězdy". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
4. "Warrior of God (Jan Žižka) | In Development | Production | Three Brothers Production". www.historicalmovie.com. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
5. "Ben Foster to Star in Petr Jákl's Historical Drama Medieval". ComingSoon.net. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
6. "Jan Žižka (2018) | Diskuze". CSFD.cz. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
7. "Po Kajínkovi a Ghoulovi plánuje Petr Jákl film o mládí Jana Žižky". iDNES.cz. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
8. Zezulka, Tomáš (3 January 2017). "Film Jan Žižka: první kola náboru komparsu skončila". TÝDEN.cz. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
9. "Češi si neváží hrdinů, proto jim ukážu neporaženého Žižku, říká muž, který stvořil hvězdu Kajínka". www.seznamzpravy.cz. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
10. "Petr Jákl chystá velkofilm Jan Žižka. Má jít o nejdražší film v historii české kinematografie". Aktuálně.cz - Víte co se právě děje (in Czech). 4 August 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
11. kinobox.cz, team at. "Velkofilm Jan Žižka: Koho ztvární Karel Roden?". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 21 November 2018.
12. "Režisér Kajínka si brousí zuby na Jana Žižku. Za pořádný balík z něj udělá grázla i psance". Super.cz. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
13. "Češi chystají velkofilmy o Karlu IV., Žižkovi, thriller ze středověku i pokračování komedie Eva tropí hlouposti". www.totalfilm.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 15 July 2017.
14. kinobox.cz, team at. "Petr Jákl připravuje Jana Žižku, nejdražší tuzemský velkofilm". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 15 July 2017.
15. "Chcete si zahrát v historickém velkofilmu? Máte šanci". Bruntálský a krnovský deník (in Czech). 19 August 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
16. "Náborů do velkofilmu Jan Žižka se zúčastnily tisíce lidí - Regiony 24.cz". www.regiony24.cz. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
17. kinobox.cz, team at. "Jáklův velkofilm Jan Žižka míří do té nejvyšší ligy, postarají se o něj v Hollywoodu!". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 6 March 2018.
18. Spáčilová, Mirka (5 March 2018). "Petr Jákl získal na film Jan Žižka hollywoodského producenta". iDNES.cz. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
19. kinobox.cz, team at. "Kdo si zahraje Jana Žižku? Hollywoodská hvězda na vzestupu, která si dost vybírá". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 24 August 2018.
20. "Pravá ruka krále Václava. V Jáklově filmu Jan Žižka bude hrát oscarový Michael Caine". Lidovky.cz (in Czech). 7 September 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
21. Matthew Goode joins historical epic 'Medieval' (exclusive)
22. "Jan Žižka bude nejdražší český film. Objeví se v něm i Sophie Loweová a William Moseley z Letopisů Narnie". Lidovky.cz (in Czech). 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
23. "Jan Žižka: Film za půl miliardy korun představila tisková konference". FandímeFilmu.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 13 September 2018.
24. "Začíná natáčení filmu Žižka. Jákl, Foster, Sweiger, Vašut, Budař a další ho odstartovali (foto + video)". Epoch Times (in Czech). Retrieved 16 September 2018.
25. kinobox.cz, team at. "Jak se točí velkofilm o Janu Žižkovi? Fotky z placu a nové herecké hvězdy". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 16 October 2018.
26. kinobox.cz, team at. "Velkofilm Jan Žižka: Proslulý Michael Caine točil na Křivoklátu. Co se mu líbí na Češích?". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 14 December 2018.
27. kinobox.cz, team at. "Jan Žižka obětí marketingového "středověku" aneb Velkofilm s dost podivným mezinárodním názvem..." Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 14 December 2018.
28. "Petr Jákl dotočil svůj historický film Jan Žižka". www.ceskenoviny.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 14 December 2018.

External links

• Medieval at IMDb