Edward Zwick, the guy who did GLORY, THE LAST SAMURAI and BLOOD DIAMOND has been working on it for quite a few years. I understand the film studio keeps getting confused on whether to make it a direct historical about Spain and El Cid or keep the fantasised version of Kay's novel. Every time they change their mind, Zwick goes off to make another movie and then comes back, waiting to see if they've made a final decision. It's actually quite amusing, if also extremely frustrating.

I think LIONS would actually make a good film, probably LAST LIGHT as well. TIGANA and ARBONNE would be much more challenging and FINOAVAR downright impossible, at least not without them trying to put in tons of CGI and explosions.