Kaamelott 2: Discover the Unexpected Challenge Alexandre Astier Faced!

Alexandre Astier has unveiled numerous insights about the production of Kaamelott 2! Following his December disclosures in Premiere magazine, which included a first look at the highly anticipated movie sequel to the television series, the actor, screenwriter, and director now opens up about the extraordinary experience of this extensive shoot.

This second installment, split into two volumes, required 100 days of filming (for context, a typical film shoot lasts about 30 days). Astier describes it as a “massive shoot,” featuring “lots of studio work, many sets,” and “78 actors,” summarizing it as “a beast.”

“I’m just coming out of it, I feel like I’ve been through the wringer, but I’m okay,” he remarks with a smile in this masterclass available on the Axolot Youtube channel (Patrick Baud).

Astier is careful not to give away any spoilers, but he promises “surprises” in terms of casting, though he doesn’t elaborate further. He did, however, share an incredible anecdote about an underwater sequence.

He explains: “I had to enter a small device that was supposed to go underwater. I had invented a kind of ancient-era proto-submarine in the script. When I arrived in the country where we were supposed to do all this, I was told that the folks hadn’t really managed to build the machine for which we had sent them plans.”

I had to learn to free-dive

He continues: “‘You’re risking drowning! Should we still try? We don’t try? In fact, I had to learn to free-dive. I had to do it without any machine. Amid the immense chaos that a film shoot implies – you have to answer 2000 questions a day, there are crazy schedules, a mad pace, and on top of that, it was all in English and complicated – in the middle of all this, suddenly the production said ‘everyone needs to leave Alexandre alone, he needs to meditate!’.

‘Because to dive, you need to meditate! I don’t know if any of you dive? You need to meditate. You need to learn to hold on. I managed to increase the minutes I could go without breathing, I got to something like over four, but they had to leave me alone! When you tell a film crew of 90 people, ‘leave him alone, he’s breathing,’ it was incredible.”

As a reminder, the first part of Kaamelott – Second Volume is set to release on October 22, 2025, in theaters.

Kaamelott – Second Volume will be divided into two parts, with the second part likely coming in 2026. The films were shot back-to-back over an 8-month period starting last summer. A shoot that demanded a lot of special effects, and where, as reported by Premiere, the director aims to go “further” in terms of spectacle.

The following paragraph contains some spoilers about the end of the film

As a reminder, the ending of the First Volume indeed featured the appearance of ghosts and the gradual physical transformation of Lancelot, Arthur’s arch-enemy. The castle was partially destroyed, leaving a kingdom to be rebuilt and few allies to defend it. And it seems that things will not be getting any easier with this diptych, whose first part will thus be released in just over 6 months.