When you say the word “history” out loud, it’s usually met with a chorus of groans. “I hated history in school! All those dates and crap! So boring.” It’s depressing.
History, if taught right, is a story. (That’s why it has “story” embedded into it. No joke.) It’s not names, dates, and places. It’s blood and sex, with a dash of art and higher aspirations. It’s the stuff you pay to watch in theaters or on HBO but with the kicker that it actually happened.
I couldn’t be happier that television has decided to take that idea and run crazy with it. The new trend on cable is taking finding some notorious era of history, populated with sex and swearing, and spin a few seasons out of it. HBO kicked off the trend with Rome and Deadwood (and promptly broke our hearts in the process), and now Showtime and Starz have taken up the gauntlet.
Showtime has been happily running around Renaissance England with The Tudors, which is about to wrap up in its fourth season now that Henry VIII is coming to the end of his wives. While it’s played a little fast and loose with history, it’s been a sumptuous watch, and fans won’t have to look far for a replacement.
The story of Solomon Kane is quite epic, full of demons and monsters, the actual journey of the film getting to domestic theaters seems to be even more interesting. The film has yet to be picked up by an American distributor, which means it could be some time before we ever get to see Michael Bassett’s film in theaters, if at all.
The film follows closely to the original books by Conan and Krull creator Robert E. Howard, while taking some impressive liberties with CG work and effects. The story follows the titular Kane, a priest who sells his soul to the devil tries to redeem his soul by fighting the henchmen of Hell.
Starring Rome’s James Purefoy, with MIchael Bassett adapting the screenplay and taking the helm, the film looks to be making quite a lot of noise in the critics’ circles.
Still no word on when we’ll get to see the entire film, but in the meantime, we’ve been bringing you plenty of clips for you to feast upon. Check out an all-new behind the scenes feature after the jump.
Fans of the critically acclaimed Breaking Bad are finally getting their wish for more Bryan Cranston. The actor, who picked up an Emmy for his work on the AMC series, has just been signed to fight alongside the titular hero in the upcoming John Carter Of Mars.
Cranston will play a Civil War colonel who clashes with Carter in the early moments of the film. The movie is based on the series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs about a Civil War veteran who is transported to another body on the red planet of Mars, where he embarks on an epic journey.
This is quite late casting, as the film reportedly begins production next week. Cranston will join the ranks of an impressive ensemble cast including James Purefoy, Mark Strong, Dominic West, Thomas Hayden Church, Lynn Collins, Willem Defoe, Samantha Morton, Polly Walker, and Taylor Kitsch as Carter.
The screenplay comes from Michael Chabon (Spider-Man 2) with Andrew Stanton (WALL-E) taking the helm. Disney is expected to give the film a mid-2012 release date.
We’ve been bringing you brand new clips from the upcoming Solomon Kane as of late, including a thrilling scene from the Hall of Mirrors. Recently, a new clip has been posted in which Solomon’s faithful friend, William Crowthorn, and his family are captured by the riders in the forest.
The film follows the travels of Solomon Kane, a priest-turned-renegade priest who swears his duties to fighting all things spooky and evil. The interesting part of that plot is that Solomon doesn’t always use his sword to do his talking. Being a priest, he tries to go the way of the peaceful man before turning to violence. An interesting twist on the Medieval Action Adventure film.
While there’s still no word on when the wide US release will be, France and Russia get to see the film in two weeks, and our very own Chris Ullrich saw the film back at Fantastic Fest.
Check out the new clip after the jump, and keep it here for more Solomon Kane news as it comes to us.
The upcoming film Solomon Kanecan’t seem to catch a break. Casting allegedly began back in 2001, when it was announced Christopher Lambert (Highlander) would be taking on the Pulp role. That version eventually died out, and the project went on the shelf for several years.
Later, in 2007, it was announced that James Purefoy (Rome) would take on the titular role, with British director Michael Bassett handling the directing duties. Principal photography began in early 2008, and the film wrapped nearly a year later. The film has been completed for quite some time, but has yet to find a US distributor, which means we may never get to actually see it in theaters.
With that said, other countries are still planning on a late December/early January release date, and with that comes some great marketing and clips from the film. After the jump, check out the brand new “Hall of Mirrors” sequence, which shows that the film will have just as much suspense as it will action.
We’ll be sure to bring you more news on a US release of Solomon Kane as it comes to us.
One of our own Chris Ullrich’s favorite films this year, Solomon Kane, has apparently been acquired for U.S. distribution by Lionsgate, a studio known for supporting genre and independent movies. According to Fangoria, who broke the news, there are rumblings that the film may even get a theatrical run prior to a DVD release.
Horror aficionados might be familiar with director Michael J. Bassett, who previously directed Deathwatch (2002) and Wilderness (2006). Soloman Kane is a character originally created by pulp fiction author Robert E. Howard, of Conan the Barbarian fame. Stories about the character appeared in Weird Tales magazine in the 1920’s.
James Purefoy stars as the title character, who roams the earth trying to wipe out evil after the devil acquires his soul and he has a change of heart about his evil ways. The movie also stars prolific actor Max Von Sydow (Flash Gordon, Dune, The Tudors). No release date has been given yet but we’ll keep you posted on all the developments.
This week on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt go it alone with Chris on location in Austin, Texas for the Fantastic Fest film festival. Among the topics the duo cover this week are Fantastic Fest in Austin, the new A Nightmare on Elm Street trailer, Corey Feldman returning for Lost Boys 3, the elements that make a horror film, Zombieland, Gentlemen Broncos, the future of 3-D, the potential Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles DVD movie, the new Predators movie potentially begin in 3-D and much more.
Plus, Chris and Matt make some great picks this week including Matt’s pick of the Freddy’s Nightmares TV series and Chris’ pick of Michael J. Bassett’s as-yet unreleased film Solomon Kane.
As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.
Thanks for listening.
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Solomon Kane, based on Conan creator Robert E. Howard’s series of stories, begins the film slashing his way around the world destroying anything, and anyone, who gets in his way. He even kills his own men, especially when they show cowardice. This tirade of evil comes to a screeching halt once Kane encounters the Devil’s Reaper, whom the devil has sent to collect Kane’s soul.
Kane, barely escaping with his life, realizes his evil ways have led him to this point and decides that he must change if he is to survive. Once he realizes the error of his ways, he then embarks on a new life, relinquishing violence in an effort to achieve redemption.
Of course, if Kane had stuck to that decision, this would be a very short movie indeed. Fortunately, he doesn’t and inevitably must return to his violent ways. But this time around, instead of the greedy, evil mercenary he once was, Kane now has a noble purpose and an actual chance at the redemption he seeks.
The innocent daughter of a Priest (Pete Postlethwaite) who had befriended Kane is taken prisoner and to save her, Kane will do whatever he needs to do — even if that means killing a few people along the way. Plus, an all-consuming evil is threatening to take over England and Kane has decided that man of peace or not, he can’t let that happen.
There are quite a few big films set to release next year that are already starting their marketing campaign. One of these that we are particularly excited about is Solomon Kane. We were lucky enough to talk to director Michael J. Bassett and star James Purefoy (Rome) in San Diego during Comic-Con, after which we were convinced that this film is worth paying close attention to.
Over the weekend, the first trailer for the film got released, and it only made anticipation for the film greater. For those unaware, the film is based on the character created by Robert E. Howard, who also created Conan. The story follows Solomon Kane, the sword-wielding hero who takes down paranormal evildoers in order to preserve his spot in Heaven.
Check out the first trailer after the break. Even though you might be skeptical about this film, we can assure you that despite not having major studio distribution and it’s similarities to other films such as Van Helsing, this film is sure to be an epic success.
Now that all the dust has settled, and San Diego Comic-Con is slowly becoming a fading memory, we wanted to bring our readers a look at some of the things we saw, people we talked to, and stuff we did during what we like to call NerdiGras.
We put together this little video to show you what we all went through last week, so check it out, and be sure to stay tuned for all of the interviews, specials, and news we have to offer you from The Flickcast team!
One of our own Chris Ullrich’s favorite films this year, 
This week on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt go it alone with Chris on location in Austin, Texas for the Fantastic Fest film festival. Among the topics the duo cover this week are Fantastic Fest in Austin, the new A Nightmare on Elm Street trailer, Corey Feldman returning for Lost Boys 3, the elements that make a horror film, Zombieland, Gentlemen Broncos, the future of 3-D, the potential Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles DVD movie, the new Predators movie potentially begin in 3-D and much more.
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