Editing Kull the Conqueror (section)

{{Short description|1997 film by John Nicolella}}
{{About|the 1997 fantasy film|the Robert E. Howard character and the Kull the Conqueror comic book|Kull of Atlantis}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Kull the Conqueror
| image          = Kull the Conquerorposter.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[John Nicolella]]
| producer       = [[Raffaella De Laurentiis]]
| screenplay     = [[Charles Edward Pogue]]
| based_on       = {{based on|[[Kull of Atlantis]]|[[Robert E. Howard]]}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Kevin Sorbo]]
* [[Tia Carrere]]
* [[Thomas Ian Griffith]]
* [[Litefoot]]
* [[Harvey Fierstein]]
* [[Karina Lombard]]
}}
| music          = [[Joel Goldsmith]]
| cinematography = Rodney Charters
| editing        = Dallas Puett
| distributor    = [[Universal Pictures]]
| released       = {{film date|1997|8|29}}
| runtime        = 96 minutes
| country        = {{Plainlist|
* United States
* Italy
}}
| language       = English
| budget         = $35 million<ref name="KullCF">{{cite magazine |last=Jones|first=Alan|date=February 1997 |title= Kull the Conqueror|url= https://archive.org/details/cinefantastique_1970-2002/Cinefantastique%20Vol%2028%20No%208%20%28Feb%201997%29/page/n5/mode/1up?view=theater&q=gamera|magazine=[[Cinefantastique]]|location= |publisher= Fourth Castle Micromedia|access-date=January 9, 2023}}</ref>
| gross          = $6.1 million<ref name="mojo" />
}}
'''''Kull the Conqueror''''' is a 1997 [[fantasy film]] about the [[Robert E. Howard]] character [[Kull of Atlantis|Kull]] starring [[Kevin Sorbo]] and directed by [[John Nicolella]] (his final film before his death the following year). It is a film adaptation of Howard's [[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] novel ''[[The Hour of the Dragon]]'', with the protagonist changed to the author's other barbarian hero Kull.<ref name="Southall">{{cite magazine |date=3 August 2015 |last1=Southall |first1=J. R. |title=Kull the Conqueror |url=https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/kull-the-conqueror |magazine=Starburst Magazine }}</ref> The storyline also bears similarities to two other Howard stories, the Kull story "[[By This Axe I Rule!]]" and the Conan story "[[The Phoenix on the Sword]]", which was a rewritten version of "By This Axe I Rule!"

The plot sees the barbarian Kull who is made king after killing the previous one in self defense. His kingdom is threatened by the evil witch [[Akivasha]], who seeks to bring forth the armies of hell to restore her dark empire. The film was originally intended to be the third ''Conan'' film, ''Conan the Conqueror'' but [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] declined to reprise the role as Conan. Sorbo was reluctant to redo a character already played, so the character was changed to Kull.<ref name="MTV-2008-11-27">{{cite web |date= 27 November 2008 |url= http://www.mtv.com/news/2760904/erics-bad-movies-kull-the-conqueror-1997/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161110172827/http://www.mtv.com/news/2760904/erics-bad-movies-kull-the-conqueror-1997/ |url-status= dead |archive-date= November 10, 2016 |title= Eric's Bad Movies: Kull the Conqueror (1997) |author= Eric Snider |publisher= MTV |access-date= 2 May 2022 }}</ref><ref name="PopCultureMedia-2007-05-20">{{cite web |date= 20 May 2007 |author=<!-- Staff byline --> |url= http://popculture.com/entertainment/2017/05/20/arnold-schwarzenegger-conan-the-conqueror/ |title= Arnold Schwarzenegger Updates Status Of Next Conan Movie |publisher= Pop Culture Media |access-date= 2 May 2022 }}</ref> Screenwriter [[Charles Edward Pogue]] has stated that he was extremely displeased with this film, feeling that his script was ruined by studio interference.<ref name="Linder">{{cite web |date=15 May 2002 |last1=Linder |first1=Brian |title=10 Questions: Charles Edward Pogue |url=https://ign.com/articles/2002/05/15/10-questions-charles-edward-pogue |website=IGN |access-date=1 May 2022 }}</ref> The film re-teams director Nicolella with actor [[Thomas Ian Griffith]], who had worked together in 1989 for the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] television biopic [[Rock Hudson (film)|''Rock Hudson'']]. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics and was a commercial failure.