Where was Seven Kings Must Die shot? Filming locations of the Netflix movie explored

Seven Kings Must Die (expanded to The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die) is currently streaming on Netflix. It serves as the next and final installment to Netflix’s TV series, The Last Kingdom. The new offering has also been taken from The Saxon Stories, a historical series consisting of 13 novels, penned by Bernard Cornwell. The novel is about England’s birth and is set in Bebbanburg (modern-day Bamburgh), Northumbria’s kingdom.

Similar to the show, the film also stars German actor Alexander Dreymon as Uhtred of Bebbanburg. Helmed by Edward Bazalgette, Seven Kings Must Die has an adapted script by Martha Hillier.

Lasting 111 minutes, the Netflix film has big shoes to fill since The Last Kingdom (TV show) ran pretty successfully over seven years across five series.

The synopsis, according to an official note, reads:

“Following the death of King Edward, invaders and rival heirs battle for the crown and Uhtred of Bebbanburg must adventure once again with his comrades as they attempt to form a united England.”

Production for the Carnival Films-backed feature commenced last year. It was four months after the lead star and show’s co-executive producer Dreymon made an announcement about the full-length move at the London MCM Comic-Con in 2021.

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Seven Kings Must Die was mostly shot in Hungary, like its preceding series

As per the details available, the film deals with the Kingdom of Wessex and the Viking invasion of England from 866 over a circa-45-year period of history. So to keep the look of Seven Kings as authentic and medieval as possible, the team returned to Hungary.

The European country boasts over 2,000 mansions and palaces and was also the primary shooting location for The Last Kingdom (TV series). Besides being the spot for the film's battlefield and Mercia marshes sequences, Budapest was also the filming spot for numerous interior sequences involving Winchester and Bebbanburgh. This also included coastal locations.

Extensive and detailed sets reflecting the era shown in the new movie were built in the Hungarian capital. Reports said a prop castle, representing the main castle of Winchester, was erected in Göböljárás, located in Budapest West.

As for choosing Hungary and not the UK as the key filming location, executive producer Nigel Marchant told RadioTimes.com:

“I think what Hungary brings to us is this sense of other world. We don't really know what England looked like 1,000 years ago, so although it's not England and we shot it on location, it has this sense of otherness to it that I've always really enjoyed.”

Apart from Seven Kings Must Die, other Netflix productions like Shadow and Bone and The Crown, Nicolas Cage-Pedro Pascal’s film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and Midsommar were filmed in Hungary as well.

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The Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, England was the other filming spot for the film

The real-life Bamburgh Castle, situated in Northumberland, doubled up as Uhtred’s Bebbanburgh home in the film. Reports said that the exterior part of the castle is shown as the outside of Uhtred’s palace.

Interestingly, in season 3 of the Netflix TV series, several battle scenes were shot in Bamburgh Beach, located around the Castle. Downton Abbey, the Harry Potter films, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves were filmed in the interiors of the historical site too.

The castle is touted as one of the world’s most important Anglo-Saxon archeological sites.

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Seven Kings Must Die is currently streaming on Netflix