Netflix’s new historical drama The King ripped off an iconic scene from Game of Thrones’ penultimate season… although the film’s director insists it was a mistake.
Starring Timothee Chalamet, the film follows the journey of King Henry V from boy-prince to warrior king and also serves as an adaption of William Shakespeare’s The Henriad.
The climax of the epic drama takes place at the legendary Battle of Agincourt in 1415 – where Henry’s troops defeated a French army that outnumbered them two to one. But one specific shot included during the battle scene may have been (unintentionally) ripped from Thrones’ equally legendary Battle of the Bastards.
The scene in question sees Joel Edgerton’s Falstaff in the heat of battle, struggling to breathe as he’s compressed against so many warring bodies. An ariel shot captures him gasping for air as the battle rages on. Any Game of Thrones fan worth their salt will recognise the shot, as it mimicks a very famous one used in the Battle of the Bastards featuring Jon Snow (Kit Harington).
According to The King director David Michôd, however, the homage was unintentional.
‘That was an accident,’ the director told RadioTimes.com. ‘Weirdly, the only Game of Thrones I’ve seen is the final episode. For some reason, I put myself through the abstract exercise of sitting and watching that. It didn’t make me want to go back and watch the rest.
‘But I did watch the Battle of the Bastards, try and work out, just with regard to visual effects, how to put the thing together. So I can’t claim to have not seen that scene, but it was so completely unintentional.’
The Australian is also a bit miffed off that no-one thought to point the similarities out to him whilst the movie was in post-production.
‘I don’t know why no-one mentioned it to me while I was still finishing the movie,’ he said. ‘It’s been in the cut for like a year, and not a single person has mentioned to me that it might look like a shot from Game of Thrones.’
Speaking of The King, we’ve already un-packed the rich history behind the lavish drama, from its real-world inspiration to Shakespeare’s own adaption, which heavily influenced the film.
Recently revealed concept art for Thrones also revealed the chilling original design for Big Bad, The Night King.
The King is streaming now on Netflix. Game of Thrones seasons 1-8 are available to stream via NOW TV.
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