HN Entertainment has been able to confirm that veteran production designer Arthur Max will officially be working on Ridley Scott’s next film The Last Duel

Max’s incredible list of credits consists of Gladiator, Robin Hood, Kingdom of Heaven, Prometheus, The Martian, Exodus: Gods & Kings, American Gangster, Black Hawk Down, and Se7en. 

Production designer Chris Seagers worked with Ridley on Alien: Covenant and had been recently developing his Merlin movie at Disney before he pivoted to The Last Duel. 

Filming is set to take place in France and Ireland. 

The cast includes Matt Damon (The Martian, Ford v Ferrari), Adam Driver (Marriage Story, Logan Lucky), Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), and taking a smaller role than previously expected is Ben Affleck (Argo, The Town). 

The period drama is based on the historical novel The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, & Trial By Combat In Medieval France by Eric Jager. 

It is 1386 when Jean de Carrouges, a Norman knight, returns from combat in Scotland to find his wife, Marguerite, accusing Jacques LeGris of brutally raping her. A deadlocked court decrees a “trial by combat” that also leaves Marguerite’s fate in the balance. For if her husband loses the duel, she will be put to death as a false accuser. 

Carrouges and LeGris, in full armor, meet on a walled field in Paris before a massive crowd that includes the king teenage King Charles VI and many nobles of the realm. What follows is a fierce fight during which both combatants suffer wounds—but only one fatal. The violent and tragic episode was notorious in its own time because of the nature of the alleged crime, and is just as relevant in our post-Me Too era.

The screenplay was adapted by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Nicole Holofcener (Can You Ever Forgive Me?). You might remember that Matt and Ben won Best Original Screenplay Oscars for their Good Will Hunting script.

The film is said to be told from the three different points of view of the leads. 

Set in 14th century France, the movie is an epic tale of betrayal and justice, told from three distinct points of view: two knights (Damon and Driver) whose bond is tested by treachery and a young woman (Comer) forced to navigate the brutal and oppressive culture of the era in order to survive.

The Last Duel will be released by Disney/20th Century Studios on January 8th, 2021.