The Last Kingdom Will Continue With A Spinoff Movie

Since premiering in 2015, The Last Kingdom has been adapting the popular novel series written by Bernard Cornwell. When the show debuted, Cornwell had published 10 books in his Saxon Stories collection, and the plan from the beginning was to cover them all within five seasons. Now, the historical drama has reached its natural conclusion.

“When we started shooting the show, there were 10 books that Bernard Cornwell had written and we had structured the show in a way that Season 5 was always going to be the last season,” Alexander Dreymon, who stars as Uhtred, said at MCM Comic Con in London.

That doesn’t mean Uhtred’s story is over, though. Since The Last Kingdom began airing, Cornwell has written three more books: War of the Wolf, Sword of Kings, and War Lord. In October 2021, Netflix confirmed that a spinoff film, titled Seven Kings Must Die, was heading into production. The film will tackle the latest three books published by Cornwell while also providing finality to the original series. “It’s been such a privilege to tell Uhtred’s story for five seasons. I’m so grateful to our fans,” Dreymon said at Comic Con. “They have been immensely loyal to The Last Kingdom and thanks to their support, the team is getting together for another round.”

Though Seven Kings Must Die is being referred to as a continuation of the story, producer Nigel Merchant clarified that it’s meant to be a standalone movie that’s accessible even to people who’ve never seen an episode of The Last Kingdom. “Over the five seasons there was a very definite beginning, middle and end, so it was a group decision that we came to [to end the show]” he said, per the Radio Times. “However, we did know there were a few more books following on from where we get to at the end of Season 5. So we did start to talk to Netflix fairly early about whether we could tell that end piece of the jigsaw so that it would feel complete."

Seven Kings Must Die began shooting in January in Belfast, where the original show also shot. A release date has not yet been announced, nor have details been released about the specific cast or plot.