By | Published September 10, 2009

SOLOMON KANE (2009)

There is a new sword-slinging period action movie on the horizon that writer-director Michael J. Bassett has adapted from a lesser-known invention of Conan the Barbarian writer Robert E. Howard. Originally announced back in 2006, the completed film SOLOMON KANE is now heading to the Toronto International Film Fest and will be opening in Russia in December. A Russian-language trailer has appeared online, giving us the first glimpse at what looks to be a dark, violent and mature actioner well in keeping with the tone Howard generally set in his popular fantasy writing.

Solomon Kane is a character created by Howard for a series of stories he wrote for publication in the pulp magazine “Weird Tales.” Kane is described as a somber-looking, 16th-century Puritan traveling the globe to vanquish evil. His weapons of choice include a rapier, dagger and twin flintlock pistols.

In the film, Kane is portrayed by British actor James Purefoy. He was originally supposed to be cast in the lead role in James McTeigue’s V FOR VENDETTA but reportedly dropped out due to creative differences with the makers. The last movie I saw him in was RESIDENT EVIL back in 2002.

Other cast members include Max von Sydow, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Mackenzie Crook, and Pete Postlethwaite.

The trailer for SOLOMOM KANE reveals sophisticated European sword fighting and related stunts choreographed by sword master Richard Ryan (THE DARK KNIGHT) and Roman Spacil (D’ARTAGNAN AND THE THREE MUSKETEERS). Since watching Daniel McNicoll’s documentary RECLAIMING THE BLADE I have become very interested in the future development of European sword fighting in film which appears to be making a comeback with the recent resurgence of interest in classical fencing.

SOLOMON KANE already has distribution deals lined up for a number of territories including South Africa, the Netherlands and France. Not surprisingly, there is no word on any U.S. distributor picking up the film yet. If and when someone does, it’s likely to go the DTV route considering the film’s lack of big-name stars and the fact that Howard’s legacy franchise has been largely forgotten among current generations outside of the author’s fanbase.

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  • The Darque One

    It looks like what Van Helsing should have been.

  • http://www.kungfucinema.com Mark Pollard

    Personally, I believe it was a mistake to try and turn Van Helsing into an action hero but if it had to happen, I agree that it should have looked closer to this film.

  • dac1138

    this does look good. there is the same trailer up with english text on trailer addict and maybe others. as a Howard and Solomon Kane fan my only concern is that the film's Kane fights evil for personal redemption whereas Howard's Kane was a dour puritan who fought evil mostly because he hated it. I guess movie audiences need more to sympathize with?

  • danielzelter

    With this and the Wolfman, it looks like audiences will finally get their wish of seeing action-adventure flicks for adults, and not just the PG-13 crowd. A shame about the DTV thing, though. If they can take a chance on no-names with 300, I don't see why this flick shouldn't get a shot, unless they're worried it'll suffer the same fate as The 13th Warrior.

    Darque: Not to mention Dungeon Siege.

    Mark: They kind of turned Van Helsing into an action-hero long before the movie, actually.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellsing

  • http://twitter.com/4typhive Shawn Frierson

    This looks sweet. I will be checking for this

  • http://twitter.com/4typhive Shawn Frierson

    This looks sweet. I will be checking for this