Arthur is a 2011 comedy film written by Peter Baynham and directed by Jason Winer. It is a remake of the 1981 film written and directed by Steve Gordon. It stars Russell Brand in the title role, with Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner, Greta Gerwig and Nick Nolte in supporting roles.
Boozy Arthur Bach (Russell Brand) and his chauffeur, Bitterman (Luis Guzmán), dress up in Batman and Robin suits for a formal dinner hosted by Arthur's mother, Vivienne (Geraldine James). The dinner is intended to announce Arthur as the new chairman of her corporation, Bach Worldwide. Upon driving to the dinner in a Batmobile, intoxicated and being chased by police, Arthur is arrested and released the next day.
Arthur is a common masculine given name. Its etymology is disputed, but its popularity derives from its being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur.
Art is a diminutive form of the name. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur.
The origin of the name Arthur remains a matter of debate. Some suggest it is derived from the Roman nomen gentile (family name) Artōrius, of obscure and contested etymology (but possibly of Messapic or Etruscan origin). Some scholars have suggested that is relevant to this debate that the legendary King Arthur's name only appears as Arthur, or Arturus, in early Latin Arthurian texts, never as Artōrius (although Classical Latin Artōrius became Arturius in some Vulgar Latin dialects). However, this may not say anything about the origin of the name Arthur, as Artōrius would regularly become Art(h)ur when borrowed into Welsh.
Another possibility is that it is derived from a Brittonic patronym *Arto-rīg-ios (the root of which, *arto-rīg- "bear-king" is to be found in the Old Irish personal name Art-ri) via a Latinized form Artōrius. Less likely is the commonly proposed derivation from Welsh arth "bear" + (g)wr "man" (earlier *Arto-uiros in Brittonic); there are phonological difficulties with this theory - notably that a Brittonic compound name *Arto-uiros should produce Old Welsh *Artgur and Middle/Modern Welsh *Arthwr and not Arthur (in Welsh poetry the name is always spelled Arthur and is exclusively rhymed with words ending in -ur - never words ending in -wr - which confirms that the second element cannot be [g]wr "man").
2011 (MMXI) was a common year that started on a Saturday in the Gregorian calendar. It was the 2011th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations; the 11th year of the 3rd millennium and of the 21st century; and the 2nd of the 2010s.
The United Nations designated 2011 as the International Year of Forests and the International Year of Chemistry. It was marked by a wave of revolutions in the Arab World known as the Arab Spring, including the beginnings of several unresolved protest movements and armed conflicts.