On Friday, Genndy Tartakovsky took to Instagram and leaked test footage from a long-gestating project called The Black Knight (not to be confused with that 2001 Martin Lawrence comedy). He admitted it “might get me in trouble,” but shrugged off the risk. “Well, this might get me in trouble… but gotta try a new strategy,” he wrote. When studios drag their feet, sometimes you’ve just got to kick down the drawbridge.
This isn’t Tartakovsky’s first brush with studio hesitation. Just last year, Warner Bros. shelved his completed R-rated comedy Fixed, an offbeat tale about a dog’s wild last night before being neutered, despite the fact that it was finished and ready to go. CEO David Zaslav quietly locked it away in 2023 as part of the company’s cost-cutting spree. The project eventually bounced back to Sony and landed at Netflix this past summer.
Now the Samurai Jack and Primal creator is facing similar resistance with The Black Knight, a project he’s been developing for about six years. According to Tartakovsky, “We developed it for a few years, the studio liked what we were doing but they were unsure if there is an audience that would go see it theatrically. We made a down and dirty test, and still no go.” That test has now been unleashed online, a one-minute battle sequence showing a towering armored knight trading blows with a nimble ninja warrior.
So, what’s the pitch? Imagine a medieval mech suit (20 feet tall, operated by ropes, pulleys, and levers) set against the grim backdrop of the 14th century. That’s the hook Tartakovsky teased while carefully holding back on story details. “I won’t share the details of the story except for one element,” he wrote, before describing the massive armor design. The rest remains locked in his vault, waiting for a studio to finally bite.
If this feels familiar, it should. Ryan Reynolds and company pulled the same trick in 2014 when “leaked” Deadpool footage set the internet ablaze and forced Fox’s hand. Tartakovsky is clearly hoping for that same success here. And he’s not alone. Jack Quaid and Bobby Moynihan have already jumped into his comments to cheer him on. Whether that’s enough to convince Sony Pictures Animation (the likely studio behind the project, given Tartakovsky’s history with Hotel Transylvania) remains to be seen.
Let’s hope fan interest does enough to get Genndy Tartakovsky’s The Black Knight released. Watch the clip below.
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