Here at the Oakeley Arms we were pretty excited over the weekend to see the news that our beautiful Snowdonia is set to become a film star, yet again! Several areas will be used as backdrops for the filming of the new King Arthur Film.

Director Guy Ritchie is behind the new film, called Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur which is filmed this year and will be released next May. Filming began in March, but the details of the film were closely guarded secrets, until it was revealed last week that filming will start in Snowdonia today.

The slopes of Tryfan will be used to film the new King Arthur film this week

The locations used will include Tryfan mountain, Nant Gwynant and Capel Curig. The film is set to be the first in a new franchise of Arthurian films, there are rumoured to be six films in the planning so far. The franchise could give Snowdonia and North Wales a huge economic boost.

The stars of the film include Jude Law as the villain Vortigen, Charlie Hunnam as Arthur and Eric Bana as Uther Pendragon, so if you’re out and about in Snowdonia this week, then you’d better keep your eyes peeled for these Hollywood royalty!

Charlie Hunnam has a starring role in the new King Arthur film

And it’s not the first time that Snowdonia has made it to the big screen either. The vast expanses of wild open spaces here are often used to portray more far-flung destinations. Recently, scenes from The Clash of the Titans (2010) were filmed at Dinorwig Quarry, and in 2003 the wilderness of Llyn Gwynant was used as backdrop for Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. Another Arthurian film, First Knight (1995) was also filmed here, and was an old film from the 1950s, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958).