Vengeance of Malthazar Poster
Luc Besson Sequel to Arthur and the Invisibles Comes in 2009
Feb 18, 2008
Arthur and the Invisibles (Arthur and the Minimoys everywhere but in the U.S.) didn't exactly set the North American box office on fire when it came out in December of 2006. Executive interference, and a lame English dub that featured such stellar voice talent as multiple Razzie winner Madonna and Snoop Dogg, didn't exactly put the flick over the top with moviegoers. Most film critics agreed: Arthur and the Invisibles earned a 20% Rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Besson blamed the film's lackluster North American reception on the fact that The Weinstein Company (the flick's U.S. distributor) chopped some key scenes, and one important side plot, from the movie. However, that didn't address critics' main issue with the film: that the characters and plot were too derivative of earlier, more interesting, fantasy fare.
Arthur and the Vengeance of Malthazar Poster
However, the Luc Besson film did well enough in Europe that the director's EuropaCorp is unleashing a sequel to the partially animated flick, called Arthur and the Vengeance of Malthazar. It's Arthur and the Vengeance of Maltazard in North America, the American distributor giving the series' villain an inexplicable name change.
Because this second movie is about Malthazar and his (presumably) dastardly plot to get even, he gets top billing in the sequel poster. The mis-shapen Minimoy stands with his back to the viewer, with two of his fingers outstretched in the classic 'V for victory' sign, or just showing the number 2. Definite points for creepiness, and a sign that this flick will pursue darker territory than the sunnier Arthur and the Invisibles images.
However, Malthazar possesses a rather unfortunate resemblance to Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter books. Hopefully, this resemblance is merely superficial, and Besson isn't stealing several pages from J.K. Rowling's bestselling series.
Movieposter Addict.com snagged a larger copy of the poster, which you can see over here.
Arthur and the Forbidden City Will Be Third Film of the Trilogy
Presumably, the plot of this movie centers around the former Minimoy hero, who turned to evil after being corrupted by the Weevil. After having his butt handed to him in the previous flick, Malthazar now pursues revenge on Arthur and his Minimoy (or Invisible) pals.
Film fans can also assume that Malthazar's vengeance is either denied or incomplete. Arthur and the gang will return for the third film, known either as Arthur and the Forbidden City (North America) or Arthur and the War of Two Worlds (translated from Arthur et la Guerre des Deux Mondes: the original title of the book)
Checking the flick's IMDb page, there are only two actors confirmed for Arthur and the Vengeance of Malthazar. Penny Balfour returns as the character of Rose (otherwise known as Arthur's Mother), and Mia Farrow also returns as the Grandmother. It's not known whether David Bowie will also voice Malthazar (or Malthazard) in the English dub of this new movie. Heck, no one knows if this flick will get any distribution in North America.
Arthur and the Vengeance of Malthazar (or whatever the **** it's called) is due sometime in 2009.
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