Summary

Real-life adventure racer, Mikael Lindnord, had his story adapted into the film “Arthur the King,” starring Mark Wahlberg.
Lindnord’s book “Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home” inspired the heartwarming tale of a stray dog who joins a race.
Lindnord was heavily involved in the production of the movie, ensuring accuracy and bringing his incredible journey to life on screen.

“Based on a true story” is usually a good start when it comes to popular movies, especially regarding athletes and biographies. We’re looking at you, Rudy, Miracle, and Remember the Titans. And now, you can add “adventure racing” to the mix of professional sports that have been covered on the big screen with Arthur the King.

Mikael Lindnord, a Swedish athlete, went on the race of his life 10 years ago in Ecuador. Whoever won the competition wasn’t exactly the highlight, as the stray dog who ultimately accompanied Lindnord and his team to the finish became the international sensation instead. Lindnord wrote about the life-changing moment in his acclaimed 2016 book Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home.

And now, he’s got Mark Wahlberg playing him on the big screen, with a feature film adaptation that hit theaters Friday, March 15th. Simu Liu (Barbie) co-stars as one of Lindnord’s adventure-racing teammates, but the real star is perhaps Ukai, the irresistible dog playing Arthur in the film. We recently caught up with Lindnord in Los Angeles in the leadup to the official release of Arthur the King, directed by Simon Cellan Jones (The Family Plan, Ballers). You can watch our video interview above and read on below.

Arthur the King Was a ‘7-Year Journey’
Arthur the King Release Date March 15, 2024 Director Simon Cellan Jones Studio Lions Gate Films, Tucker Tooley Entertainment

Our first question for Lindnord had to be if he ever thought his harrowing true story would ever come to life with an Oscar-nominated actor playing him. “Never. When this happened 10 years ago, I was racing to be the best in adventure racing. That was my goal. And then Arthur came along and changed my life,” he told us. Lindnord elaborated:

And then finally, the whole world is calling you, wanting to make a movie. But you don’t really think that it’s going to be a movie. From the first call, it takes seven years. So it’s not a quick fix, and you have obstacles along the way, COVID and stuff like that. So you can’t really have it as a goal. So it’s more like a dream more than anything else.

And it’s endearing to know that Lindnord was heavily involved during the production process of Arthur the King. After all, if you want it done right, you might as well bring in the guy who actually lived the incredible journey. “I was helping out with the crew and everyone that does the costumes and the set decks and stuff like that, and obviously working with the script to get my ideas. But then on set, before we started shooting, I was training with actors and the dog and everything, and also on set there was more of, they’d ask me, ‘Is this accurate?'” Lindnord told MovieWeb, adding:

That’s the thing — I really wanted to push the levels to get it as accurate as possible. So I was more like helping to build with the guidelines. But with that said, [director] Simon is the master who made this movie so beautiful.

From Lionsgate, Arthur the King hit theaters Friday, March 15, 2024. Meet the canine actor at the heart of it all below: