Kingdom of Heaven (2005): Picking the Wrong Villain

Why did "Kingdom of Heaven" flop at the box office? Ridley Scott's 2005 crusades epic premiered with all the ingredients to be a smash hit--a massive budget, a star-studded cast, and a director in his prime. But Scott failed to rekindle the magic of Gladiator. Today we examine four theories explaining why "Kingdom of Heaven" underperformed at the box office, including the popular excuse that 20th Century Fox forced Ridley Scott to cut nearly an hour from the runtime.

The truth is that "Kingdom of Heaven" never had all the ingredients for success. In fact, it's missing a big one--a compelling antagonist. Poor character development from a novice screenwriter left the story without a proper antagonist, sapping the narrative drama from what should have been an amazing film. Today, we examine what went wrong and more importantly, how to fix it. We'll explore the real history of this period and unearth a hidden antagonist who could have turned "Kingdom of Heaven" into one of Ridley Scott's greatest accomplishments. Oh, what could have been!

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