“The Green Knight,” a medieval fantasy adventure starring Dev Patel as King Arthur’s plucky nephew Gawain, will host its world premiere at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival. The movie, which will be distributed by A24, is directed by David Lowery.

The festival announced the new addition to its lineup as fears about the spread of the coronavirus continues to restrict travel around the world. Despite a petition signed by 15,000 people to cancel this year’s SXSW, the festival showcasing movies, music and technology is still scheduled to take place as planned in Austin, Texas.

This edition of SXSW will run from March 13 to 22, with the opening night film previously announced to be Judd Apatow’s “The King of Staten Island,” starring Pete Davidson. Other movies debuting at the festival include “The Lovebirds,” headlined by Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani, and “Bad Trip,” an ensemble comedy with Tiffany Haddish.

“The Green Knight” will screen at SXSW on March 16 before releasing in North American theaters on May 29. The movie, which co-stars Alicia Vikander and Joel Edgerton, chronicles Gawain’s attempts to find the emerald-colored figure in the title.

Lowery previously came to SXSW in 2009, with his first feature movie “St. Nick.” He’s since gone on to direct both box office hits (2016’s “Pete’s Dragon”) and indie darlings (2018’s “Ghost Story”).

“We are thrilled to world premiere ‘The Green Knight’ at SXSW,” said Janet Pierson, the film festival’s director. “David Lowery is a singular artist with a filmmaking vision that’s both epic and intimate. It’s been beyond exciting to watch his growth as an artist. His newest film is an extraordinary achievement, delivering superlative performances, suspense, and magic with cinematic grandeur which we know our SXSW audience will love.” [Source]