Kull the Conqueror

Kull the Conqueror is a 1997 fantasy film about the Robert E. Howard character 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 novel The Hour of the Dragon, with the protagonist changed to the author's other barbarian hero Kull. 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. Screenwriter Charles Edward Pogue has stated that he was extremely displeased with this film, feeling that his script was ruined by studio interference. The film re-teams director Nicolella with actor Thomas Ian Griffith, who had worked together in 1989 for the ABC television biopic Rock Hudson. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics and was a commercial failure.