Arthur The King’s True Story

ARTHUR THE KING opens March 22
Over the years, audiences have fallen in love with emotionally driven stories about dogs and how “man’s best friend” makes the world a better place. At the same time, we’ve also been treated to amazing and powerful movies based on true stories, ones that continue to motivate us for weeks, months and even years after first experiencing them on the big screen. Very soon, a movie called ARTHUR THE KING could check both of those boxes.
Before the new Mark Wahlberg adventure film opens at AMC Theatres nationwide this spring, let’s take a look at the remarkable true story of the connection formed by an adventure racer and a stray dog in the middle of the jungle and the events that led to it becoming a major motion picture. With examples of resilience, the unbreakable bond shared by man and dog and so much more, this is going to be an experience you won’t want to miss.
Four days into the 2014 Adventure Racing World Championship, a grueling and treacherous athletic event through the Amazon Jungle that combines the disciplines of trail running, mountain biking, climbing, and paddling, Mikael Lindnord and his teammates on Team Peak Performance gained a new and unlikely four-legged member.
According to NPR, the group was preparing for the next leg of the daunting journey when Lindnord was approached by a then-unnamed stray dog that was in rough shape with a large wound on its back. Soon after starting the next stage, the group realized that the dog, later named Arthur, was coming with them. For hundreds of miles, numerous stages and various dangers, the fearless and tireless canine wasn’t too far behind.
Arthur would go on to complete the race with Team Peak Performance, but this wouldn’t be the end of the story for the dog and Lindnord. This, was just the beginning.
The story of Arthur became an international sensation following the event, and it eventually led to a series of conversations between the Ecuadoran and Swedish governments when Mikael Lindnord decided that he wanted to bring the dog back home with him to get the proper medical care and become a member of his family.
In a lengthy ESPN profile story on Arthur and Lindnord, the bond shared by man and dog was illustrated in great detail and covered how the two became inseparable in the months and years following their chance encounter deep in the rainforest. In the concluding passage of the story, Lindnord said meeting Arthur and bringing him home was the “best thing” he’d ever done, with his wife, Helen, calling the dog “a part of the family.”
Lindnord, with the help of Val Hudson, would turn his remarkable story into the 2016 memoir titled “Arthur — The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home,” which recounted the unfathomable meeting and the experiences that followed, both near the equator and 300 miles south of the Arctic Circle. Four years later, Lindnord took to his Instagram account to share that after many adventures, Arthur died in December 2020.
“Arthur — The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home” has now been turned into ARTHUR THE KING, the upcoming adventure film inspired by the unbreakable bond shared by man and dog. Directed by Simon Cellan Jones, the highly anticipated 2024 movie will see Mark Wahlberg take on the role of Michael Light, an adventure racer based on Mikael Lindnord.
Wahlberg, who has portrayed real-life characters in movies like JOE BELL, FATHER STU and THE FIGHTER over the years, won’t be alone in ARTHUR THE KING, as he will be joined by an all-star cast. SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS star Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel and Juliet Rylance are set to play Light’s teammates and wife, respectively. Real-life adventurer and television host Bear Grylls is also set to appear, playing himself as he breaks down the epic adventure race.
In November 2023, Lionsgate gave the world a proper look at the film with the release of the first ARTHUR THE KING trailer, a two-and-a-half-minute reel of epic action, daring adventures and numerous heartwarming moments between Wahlberg’s character and the titular pup. If you want to know the basic gist of the movie and what you can expect when it hits the big screen in March, the official trailer is going to do that and more.
If the trailer is any indication of what’s to come, we’re in for a heartwarming and heart-pounding movie with a little something lovers of dog movies and fans of action flicks can enjoy equally.
Well, now that we’ve gone over ARTHUR THE KING and the miraculous story behind the new Mark Wahlberg movie, all there is left to do is purchase tickets so you don’t miss out when it comes to an AMC Theatres location near you.
ARTHUR THE KING opens March 22