Solomon Kane (film)
| Solomon Kane | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Michael J. Bassett |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | Michael J. Bassett |
| Based on | Characters by Robert E. Howard |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Klaus Badelt |
| Cinematography | Dan Laustsen |
| Edited by | Andrew MacRitchie |
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Production
company |
Davis Films
Czech Anglo Productions Wandering Star Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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104 minutes |
| Country | |
| Language | English Arabic |
| Budget | $40 million |
| Box office | $19,385,501 |
Solomon Kane is a 2009 French-British-Czech dark fantasy action-adventure film written and directed by Michael J. Bassett based on the pulp magazine character Solomon Kane created in 1928 by Robert E. Howard. James Purefoy stars in the title role. Despite optioning the rights in 1997, filming did not begin until January 2008. The film is an original story for the Kane character and intended to be the first of a trilogy. The plot follows a redemption story for Kane, from the end of his life as a privateer, through the salvation of his soul by rescuing a Puritan girl and the beginning of his life as the Puritan avenger of the source material. It was produced by a consortium of French, Czech, and British companies and mostly filmed in the Czech Republic. The film was first shown at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. It went on general release in France, Spain, and the UK over the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010. Reception was generally favourable, with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 66% following the UK/US release; the film's atmosphere and Purefoy's acting attracted the most acclaim.
The film opens in North Africa, 1600, with the English mercenary Solomon Kane as he leads his ship's crew into battle against the Ottoman occupiers of a fortress town. After defeating the defenders, Kane and his men raid the fortress, where most of the crew are killed by demons. Kane fights his way to the throne room, but, before he can loot the riches, he is confronted by a demon that tells him his soul is forfeit to Satan. Solomon rejects his fate and jumps out a window. Following this encounter, Solomon returns to England and finds sanctuary in a monastery. After a prophetic dream, the abbot apologetically expels Kane, and Kane travels by foot to his ancestral estate, from which he had been expelled in his youth after defying his father. Along the way, he is ambushed by robbers who mock his vow of pacifism and leave him for dead. He is found and treated by the Crowthorns, a family of Puritans traveling west to the New World. When the Crowthorns are slaughtered by corrupted followers of the evil sorcerer Malachi, Kane renounces his vows and swears to avenge their deaths and rescue Meredith Crowthorn, who has been marked by a witch and kidnapped by the Masked Rider, Malachi's lieutenant.
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