London has always been an interesting place. Established less than fifty years anno domini, it is the setting for some of the most fascinating legends in history - most notably those of King Arthur. For Guy Ritchie, it was this antiquity that attracted him in directing his latest film 'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword'.

Guy Ritchie at the 'King Arthur' premiereGuy Ritchie at the 'King Arthur' premiere

Having grown up near London, Guy has a lot of familiarity with the place, and that no doubt increased his fascination with its remarkable history - especially when comparing it to one of the oldest settlements in the United States.

'I'm obsessed with, or at least very interested in, London as a city anyway', he revealed. 'I think it's 2,000 years old - how old is New York?... 200-300 years old. London's 2,000 years old... Roman London is 15 feet underneath - 15 or 20, 25 feet underneath - contemporary London. That's how many buildings we put on top of buildings we put on top of buildings.'

Watch the trailer for 'King Arthur' here: 

He goes on to explain that he loves the parallels between London in 43 AD and the 21st Century srpawling metropolis. 'Going back to Londinium is an interesting excursion for me historically anyway, and the idea that the London of then is probably quite similar, ethnically, as it is now', he continues. 'Because you're at the end of the Roman Empire, there's so much transit in the Roman Empire that you would have had a very multi-cultural environment. So there's this correlation between London then and the London now with the thousand years plus more between them.'

'King Arthur' is a particularly unusual project for Guy Ritchie, who is best known for crime films the likes of 'Snatch', 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' and 'RocknRolla'. But with that in mind, we can expect a gritty edge to this fantasy thriller.

Guy is also set to direct the live-action musical adaptation of the 1992 Disney film 'Aladdin' (with Will Smith in talks to play the Genie) and he's rumoured to be involved with a 'Sherlock Holmes 3' project.

'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword' is set to be released on May 12th 2017.