Mark Wahlberg’s newest movie, ‘Arthur the King,’ has ties to Vail

Mark Wahlberg stars in heartwarming story of a dog who finds a home with an adventure racing team and reveals a new meaning of victory and loyalty

Mikael Lindnord pets Arthur during the 2014 Adventure Racing World Championship in Ecuador. ‘Arthur the King’ is based on Lindnord’s 2016 memoir, ‘Arthur – The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home.’
Mikael Lindnord/Courtesy photo
You can hardly pull up your social media feed or watch a talk show and not see information on the new movie, “Arthur the King,” which hits theaters on March 15. Based on a true story of an unlikely bond formed by an adventure racer and a dog, “Arthur the King” stars actor and producer Mark Wahlberg, who heard about this story from an ESPN segment that shared how Swedish adventure racer Mikael Lindnord and Arthur met and decided to make a movie out of it.

“Arthur the King” is based on Lindnord’s 2016 memoir, “Arthur – The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home.” During the 2014 Adventure Racing World Championship in Ecuador (but in the movie the race is set in the Dominican Republic), Lindnord and his Team Peak Performance teammates meet a severely wounded dog at a checkpoint along the race course. Lindnord tossed the dog some meatballs.

After that chance encounter, the racers see the dog again, miles and miles later after quite a few terrain challenges. The wounded dog will not leave their side and the team decides that they are all now in this together.

“This process to make this movie has been going on for seven years, from the first call from the producers to today,” said Lindnord, who traveled from Sweden to be in Los Angeles for the past several weeks leading up to the premiere on Friday.

“The process to do a movie like this is not a straight line and there have been some ups and downs like the COVID pandemic and a lot of changes. But since Mark Wahlberg came on board, he never hesitated that this would be a movie. It feels very surrealistic for me of course when we are now finally here and you hear the buzz.”

Wahlberg plays Lindnord in the movie.

Lindnord is a friend and friendly rival of local adventure race athlete, Mike Kloser.

“Having known and raced alongside Mikael and his team for many years on the adventure racing world stage, I got to know Mikael pretty well, he’s a guy with a huge heart and the ability to inspire people in so many ways. Mikael’s and Arthur’s story is so moving that when we heard the movie was going to premiere here in the Vail Valley on its opening weekend, we wanted to be a part of it and try to benefit the community as well,” said Kloser.

Lindnord’s team eventually started using gear from Kloser’s backpack company, OutThere and those packs are featured in the movie. The producers and Wahlberg wanted to stage the scenes as authentically as possible and brought Lindnord along during the filming to get his perspective.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to showcase our brand to the world in a way that any sporting brand would wisely jump on. When we got the call to be a part of this movie we were all in,” Kloser said.

Kloser reached out to Grant Smith, owner of the Riverwalk Theater to come up with a fun promotion during the premiere. Kloser’s team will host a booth with OutThere backpacks and products during Opening Night on Friday as well as Saturday from 5-7 p.m. The same backpacks in the movie will be featured along with limited edition “Arthur the King” T-shirts, hats and stickers. Come early and enjoy happy hour specials from the Riverwalk Theater’s La Casa food and beverage menu before the movie starts at 7 p.m.

The Eagle County Animal Shelter will also be present and will have dogs available for adoption. A portion of the proceeds from the weekend’s event will go to the Eagle County Animal Shelter. The shelter will also be accepting donations of dog toys, dog treats, beds, leashes and anything else you think a dog would love.

“We hope that people come hang out and meet Mike Kloser to learn about his packs and his tie to the movie and come to help support the Eagle County Animal Shelter and maybe find a dog a home,” Smith said.

It took months of many vet trips, quarantine, a Twitter campaign and a crowdfunding effort, but Arthur eventually found a forever home in Sweden with Lindnord’s family after the race.

“The importance of Arthur is that it doesn’t matter how hard you are down and beaten, you should never stop trying and never give up. Arthur is about hope! And Arthur is a true inspiration for other Arthurs out there,” Lindnord said.

“I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I know the story pretty intimately. It’s going to be a heartwarming movie to watch on the big screen. I heard viewers will want to bring along some tissues,” Kloser said.

And, this is not a spoiler alert because Wahlberg and other co-stars have been all over social media saying, “don’t worry, Arthur does not die in the movie,” so if you weren’t going to go because you thought the dog was going to die at the end, everyone wants you to know that you should come and learn about this inspiring story that has a great message and a happy ending.

Tickets for the movie are on sale now but are going fast, so visit RiverwalkTheater.com or stop by the box office in Edwards to get your tickets.