Petr Jákl's bloody historical epic Medieval is coming home soon. Starring Emmy nominee Ben Foster as the legendary warrior Jan Žižka, the film made waves as the most expensive Czech film ever produced, in an effort to bring one of the country's most revered icons to life in a major way. Now, that epic tale of love, war, and politics will be available to own digitally on October 25 before it arrives physically on Blu-ray and DVD on December 7.
In Jákl's third outing as both a writer and director, the film follows the early life of the Hussite commander Žižka who, at that point, was a mercenary leader. When the Holy Roman Empire is thrown into chaos upon the death of its ruler, a feud for the crown kicks off between King Wenceslas of Czech and King Sigismund of Hungary. Tasked to kidnap the bride-to-be of Lord Rosenberg (Til Schweiger), Lady Katherine (Sophia Lowe), in an attempt to waylay the lord and his king Sigismund's rise to power, Žižka sets off to do right by his king whom he believes in the word of. As Katherine ends up part of a political game, Žižka is swayed by her resolve to help her people and falls in love with her, spurning his duty to his king to help topple the corrupt grab for power between kings and lords for the sake of the people.
Foster, who dazzled audiences with performances in Hell or High Water and 3:10 to Yuma, leads a talented cast featuring Schweiger and Lowe alongside Matthew Goode, Academy Award winner Michael Caine, Roland Møller, and William Moseley. With its slew of stars and large-scale production, it was easily Jákl's biggest budget and highest profile film yet, beating out his last two features Kajínek and Ghoul with a budget eclipsing $23 million.
Medieval is the culmination of a long and massive production process for Jákl, originally announced back in 2013 on a much smaller budget. It's also not the first time Žižka has been portrayed on the big screen, though Jákl opted to show the rise of the famed hero rather than him at the height of his military might when his beliefs were fully formed and his prowess was already proven. Peter Bok and Petr Jákl Sr. helped pen the story for Jákl while Marek Dobeš and Michal Petruš wrote the previous screenplay the film was based on.
Medieval rides into battle on digital tomorrow, October 25, before its physical release on December 7, just in time to buy it as the perfect holiday gift for the medieval epic lover in your life. Check out the trailer below.