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The Princess: Director Le-Van Kiet Reveals His Biggest Inspiration For The Film

The Princess is not your average damsel in distress, and its director was inspired by some pretty extraordinary action movies.
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The Princess is not your average damsel in distress.

Hitting the Hulu streaming platform on July 1st, The Princess is a fairy tale of a princess locked away in a tall tower, but there’s a twist! Rather than being rescued by a knight in shining armor – because who wants to see that for the thousandth time – this film will feature the princess fighting her way out of the tower in a Rated-R bloodbath of fists and swords.

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The lead role is played by Joey King (The Kissing Booth, The Act), who is described as a “strong-willed princess who refuses to wed the cruel sociopath to whom she is betrothed.” This alternative take on the classic fairy tale will see her grabs the reigns of her own story, fighting for her freedom.

The Princess Is A Tale As Old As Time, But With A New Twist

the princess hulu

We’re talking all damnnnnsel and no distress!

If the trailer is any indication, this is going to be a hell of a ride. It immediately gives us vibes of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, or more recently, 2019’s Ready Or Not, which both had similar plots and focus on a bride fighting her way to freedom.

The Princess is directed by Le-Van Kiet who has made a name for himself with works like Furie and The Requin. While at a recent press conference, Illuminerdi had the privilege of asking Kiet what his biggest inspirations were for the film:

“Character driven stories with a very high-octane trajectory are what really inspired me,” he said. “I like the sort of subtle humor of Die Hard…but The Raid really inspired us to make the action very hardcore where we really feel every punch. And also that survival skill of going through this mayhem. Those are the things that really got us into the rhythm of what The Princess should be.”

BRINGING DOWN THE TOWER

It’s no surprise to hear that Die Hard and The Raid were both big influences on this movie. Both films were all single-location action movies where the protagonist has to fight there way through a tower, with the later featuring some of the most impressive martial arts choreography ever put to film. The trailer for The Princess seems to incorporate its own share of martial arts and impressive stunt choreography, so we’re excited to hear that the director was inspired by some of the all-time greatest movies of the action genre.

Check out the official summary of The Princess and its fantastic poster below!

OFFICIAL SUMMARY:

An action-packed fight to the death set in a fairy tale world, “The Princess” is directed by Le-Van Kiet (“Furie”) and stars Emmy Award® nominee Joey King (“The Act,” “The Kissing Booth”) as a beautiful, strong-willed princess who refuses to wed the cruel sociopath to whom she is betrothed, and is kidnapped and locked in a remote tower of her father’s castle. With her scorned, vindictive suitor intent on taking her father’s throne, the princess must protect her family and save the kingdom.

The movie also stars Dominic Cooper (“Preacher”), Olga Kurylenko (“Black Widow”), and Veronica Ngo (“The Old Guard”). “The Princess” is directed by Le-Van Kiet, written by Ben Lustig (“The Thirst”) & Jake Thornton (“Final Fantasy”), and produced by Neal H. Moritz (the “Fast and Furious” franchise), Toby Jaffe (“Total Recall”) and Derek Kolstad (“John Wick”), with Joey King and Guy Riedel (“Spectral”) serving as executive producers.

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