'A Knight's Tale' sequel was scrapped by the Netflix algorithm, according to director Brian Helgeland.
The 63-year-old filmmaker has been keen to shoot a follow-up to his 2001 medieval comedy classic - which starred Heath Ledger, Paul Bettany and Alan Tudyk - but despite the original movie's enduring popularity, the streaming platform has decided against it.
He told Inverse magazine: "I pitched it to Sony because they own the rights, and it seemed like they were interested in making it with Netflix, releasing it as a Netflix movie.
“My understanding is that Netflix tested this sequel idea through their algorithms, which indicated that it would not be successful.
"‘A Knight’s Tale’ seems to get more popular with every passing year; it’s the strangest thing.”
Helgeland and the team already had big plans for a sequel almost 20 years ago when they finished work on the original movie.
He recalled: "When we finished ‘A Knight’s Tale,’ we were already thinking about making the sequel as a pirate film.
“The plot revolved around Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell) kidnapping Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon) and taking her to Constantinople.
"They end up as galley slaves after their boat is captured by pirates. There’s a prisoner on the boat who has a treasure map tattooed on his back, but he keeps getting flogged for indiscipline.
"The guys volunteer to take turns getting flogged in this prisoner’s place, so the map isn’t erased. Sony didn’t want to do it.”
Along with actors Bettany and Tudky, Helgeland later revisited the idea of a sequel years after the death of Ledger in 2008, which was the version Netflix are said to have turned down.
He explained: "The guys had an idea that William (Ledger) had passed away during a war. However, William has a teenage daughter who wants to joust, but she’s not allowed to because she’s a woman.
“She tracks down the gang and they agree to teach her how to joust, but she has to hide who she is. They cut her hair short and she speaks with a deep voice, et cetera.”
