The last attempt at stripping out the high Medieval trappings that have been part and parcel of the myth since Sir Thomas Malory and the troubadours turned the Dark Age legend into the story we all know and love, and instead introduce a more "historically realist" late to immediately post-Roman Empire milieu, the 2004 "King Arthur", was an abject failure, remembered now, just a few years later, mostly for featuring a bow and arrow wielding Keira Knightley in some fetching Celtic style body paint.

But MGM are giving it another go, in the shape of "The Last Legion", which tells the tale of how, as the Roman empire crumbles, young Romulus Augustus, the child emperor whose short reign (31 October 475 to 4 September 476) marked the final end of the Empire in the West, flees the city and embarks on a perilous voyage to Britain to track down a last legion of supporters.

The film, which is written by Jez and Tom Butterworth, based on a story by Carlo Carlei, Peter Rader, and Valerio Manfredi, is directed by Doug Lefler (who was a regular writer for televisions Xena and Hercules), under the auspices of Dino De Laurentiis and family (no strangers to epic fantasies), and the Weinsteins. It stars Colin Firth, Sir Ben Kingsley, Kevin McKidd (Lucius Vorenus in HBO series "Rome"), Alexander Siddig (Dr Julian Bashir in "Star Trek Deep Space 9"), and Thomas Sangster as the young Romulus Augustus.

As in the aforementioned 2004 "King Arthur", the producers have felt the need to add a kick-ass Xena like female warrior, who is nonetheless flawless model thin eye candy. This time, instead of Knightley, it's the Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai doing the honours. Oh well. History be damned. Its is fantasy, after all... The film will premiere at the upcoming Venice Film Festival this September. No North American release date has yet been confirmed.

Movieweb have got their hands on the first full trailer, which you can watch below, if your computer is equipped with Adobe/Macromedia Flash.