The King's Daughter

The King's Daughter is a 2022 action-adventure fantasy film directed by Sean McNamara from a screenplay by Barry Berman and James Schamus. It is based on the 1997 novel The Moon and the Sun by Vonda N. McIntyre. The film stars Pierce Brosnan as King Louis XIV, Kaya Scodelario as Marie-Josèphe, and Benjamin Walker as Yves De La Croix. It was William Hurt's final screen performance to be released before his death in March 2022, though not his final film work, as it had been filmed eight years earlier. Principal photography began in early April 2014 in Versailles, France. After the two-week shoot in France, production then began on April 23 in Melbourne, Australia. Shooting wrapped up at the end of May. Originally intended to be released in April 2015, the film was delayed just three weeks prior in order to complete post-production effects. It sat in development hell for over five years, until the distribution rights were acquired by Gravitas Ventures, which theatrically released it on January 21, 2022 to negative reviews. Plot Marie-Josèphe, born and raised in a convent in France, is a rebellious free spirit who often causes trouble for the Abbess. Marie-Josèphe's father, King Louis XIV, fears for his own mortality after being wounded by an assassin's bullet, but is told by Dr. Labarthe about a magical underwater creature that can grant him immortality; the procedure involves cutting out the creature's heart during an eclipse. Louis sends a group of fishermen, led by Captain Yves De La Croix, to capture the creature, a mermaid. Her mate is also caught, but Yves releases him before heading back to France.