He's a mercenary, a thief, a warrior, a killer, a lover, a leader. Conan the Barbarian? No, it's Kull the Conqueror, and he's coming soon to a multiplex near you. According to a report at SuperHeroHype, Paradox Entertainment is fast at work on a new movie adaptation of 'Kull,' based on the novels of Robert Ervin Howard, who also wrote the 'Conan' series and single-handedly created the sword-and-sorcery genre of fiction in the 1920s and '30s.
This is not the first attempt to bring 'Kull' to the big screen. A 1997 'Kull the Conqueror,' directed by John Nicolella and with Kevin ('Hercules') Sorbo in the lead role, was a critical and financial flop (only $6.1 million at the domestic box office).
Paradox, which owns the rights to the Howard characters, is also producing a new 'Conan' film for 2011 with Dolph Lundgren rumored to star as Conan. Another Paradox film based on Howard's work, 'Solomon Kane,' about a mercenary who owes his soul to the devil, is scheduled to open in France just before Christmas but has no U.S. distribution yet.
Though no director, cast or story line has been revealed, the adventures of Kull take place eons in the past, before the continent of Atlantis is destroyed by natural disasters. Kull is a native Atlantian exiled as an adolescent when he grants a woman a quick death so she won't be burned to death by a mob. He becomes a pirate, a mercenary, a gladiator and eventually ruler of the kingdom of Valusia.
Though Sorbo has moved on from his days as a muscle-bound warrior (to 'Andromeda' and a host of guest appearances on TV sitcoms) the Internet rumor mill is abuzz about the possibilities of Sorbo reprising his Kull role. Should he again put on his sandals as the impetuous warrior? Should the filmmakers make a nod to the prior 'Kull' by having Sorbo cameo as, say, Kull's father (who's killed off pretty early in the proceedings)? What do you think?
Reader Comments (3)
Ralf at 1:16PM on Nov 25th 2009
Kevin is the best actor.
Cathy at 1:30PM on Nov 25th 2009
Once a fan, always. He's done better roles but his work is consistent, I'd watch a sequel no problem.
moo at 4:29PM on Nov 25th 2009
Love Kevin, hated "Kull". The music and the photography could have saved the dreary script but both were just as dreadful. Could this be different? Kevin deserves much more than to reprise Kull. Wigs not required.