Director David Dobkin (The Change-Up) is nailing down the cast for his period King Arthur project Arthur & Lancelot, and it looks like he’s closing on his leads. Game of Thrones star Kit Harrington and The Killing’s Joel Kinnaman have emerged as the frontrunners to take on the lead roles, per Heat Vision. When Dobkin sat down with Steve earlier this year, he talked about how he went back to the legend and pulled it apart for his PG-13 iteration, saying “I kept certain characters, I recreated the entire launch of the legend and why it starts the way that it starts.” Though plot details are under wraps, Dobkin did tease that the film is “wrapped around the birth of democracy as a concept and it’s positing Arthur as the first man to say all men are created equal.” Hit the jump for more, including what other actors tested for the roles.

When I first heard that Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds were going to star in a body switching comedy, my first thought was, “Hasn’t this concept been beaten to death?”  But, when I found out the guys who wrote The Hangover (Jon Lucas and Scott Moore) were writing the script and the director of Wedding Crashers (David Dobkin) was helming the project, I thought The Change-Up had the chance to be very funny.  And it is.  It’s actually the hardest I’ve laughed in a theater in a long time and I absolutely recommend checking it out this weekend.

Anyhow, I recently got to talk with David Dobkin on the phone.  We talked about how the project came together, how hard it was to get made, casting, his thoughts on extended editions and director’s cuts, and deleted scenes.  In addition, we talked about how he’s producing Jack the Giant Killer and R.I.P.D., his King Arthur movie, the Vacation reboot, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to the interview.

With director David Dobkin’s The Change-Up opening in a few weeks, I was able to get on the phone with him yesterday to talk about the movie.  While I’m embargoed from writing a review…I will say that The Change-Up is extremely funny and the last time I laughed that hard in a theater was Bridesmaids.  Definitely recommended.

Anyway, towards the end of the interview, Dobkin gave me some updates on his King Arthur movie and also what’s up with the Vacation reboot/sequel which he’s producing.  While I knew his King Arthur movie was a priority at Warner Bros., I had no idea they were already casting and they’re planning on filming this January in London.  Much more after the jump.

Last week, we reported that Guy Ritchie had signed on to direct Excalibur, which was based on a treatment by Warren Ellis (author of must-read comic series Transmetropolitan and Planetary among others).  Now, Variety is reporting that screenwriter John Hodge (Trainspotting) is working with Ritchie on a script for the film which will be “a re-imagining of the legend of Arthur,” and use Sir Thomas Mallory’s Le Morte d’Arthur as a primary source.

However, Ellis said that his treatment, “differs from the prior 751 King Arthur movies in many ways, but perhaps most obviously in that it is very specifically about the gathering of the Knights.”  Variety also never calls the project, “Excalibur” but I think it’s safe to assume that Ritchie hasn’t signed on to two different King Arthur projects at the same studio.

King Arthur’s profile has been getting raised recently as we also reported last week that director Sylvain White (The Losers) was in negotiations to direct the Knights of the Round Table flick Pendragon.  There’s also Bryan Singer’s separate Excalibur project which would be a remake of John Boorman’s 1981 film.