Tales of an Ancient Empire
Encyclopedia
Tales of an Ancient Empire is a 2010 fantasy film, starring Kevin Sorbo
, Whitney Able
, Victoria Maurette
, and Lee Horsley
, directed by Albert Pyun
. It is the sequel
to Pyun's directorial debut, The Sword and the Sorcerer
.
of The Sword and the Sorcerer
.
Director Pyun announced to the movie news website Ain't It Cool News
in August 2007 that the sequel was in preproduction.
After over two decades of gestation, the production officially beginning with the writing of the script in November 2007. Numerous locations including Argentina
, Bulgaria
and Poland
were considered for filming. Argentina was finally chosen with shooting to begin in May 2008 on a proposed budget of $450,000. Despite sets being built for the film in Argentina, the production ultimately chose to not film there. Instead, most of the principal photography was completed in California
.
According to director Pyun, actors considered for the film included Yancy Butler
, Kari Wuhrer
, Mark Dacascos
, Val Kilmer
, Steven Seagal
, Olivier Gruner
, and Christopher Lambert
.
and the promise of a second sequel entitled Red Moon.
.
Pyun briefly toyed with the idea of releasing the film direct to DVD
independently through his website in limited collector's editions in March 2010. While pre-orders were taken, the idea was eventually cancelled and refunds issued.
The film was released on DVD in Thailand
and Scandinavia
in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Despite being an officially licensed releases, director Pyun maintains these versions are not his final cut
and that the eventually United States release will feature a new beginning and ending.
Kevin Sorbo
Kevin David Sorbo is an American actor best known for the roles of Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Captain Dylan Hunt in Andromeda and Kull in Kull the Conqueror.-Early life:...
, Whitney Able
Whitney Able
Whitney Able is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane and Monsters. She has been featured in Maxim magazine.- Biography :Able has two brothers and is a fan of Led Zeppelin...
, Victoria Maurette
Victoria Maurette
Victoria Maurette is an Argentine actress, singer–songwriter, composer and model. She is probably the best known for her performance as Victoria "Vico Paz in the Cris Morena Group series Rebel's Way, and for her roles in Albert Pyun's films Left for Dead, Bulletface and Tales of an Ancient...
, and Lee Horsley
Lee Horsley
Lee Arthur Horsley is an American film, television, and theater actor known for starring roles in the television series, Nero Wolfe , Matt Houston , and Paradise . He starred in the 1982 cult film, The Sword and the Sorcerer, and recorded the audiobook edition of Lonesome Dove...
, directed by Albert Pyun
Albert Pyun
Albert Pyun is an American film director best known for having made many low-budget B-movies and direct-to-video action films. He frequently blends kickboxing and hybrid martial arts with science fiction and dystopic or post-apocalyptic themes, which often include cyborgs...
. It is the sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to Pyun's directorial debut, The Sword and the Sorcerer
The Sword and the Sorcerer
The Sword and the Sorcerer is a 1982 fantasy film, starring Lee Horsley, Richard Lynch, and Richard Moll, directed by Albert Pyun. A mercenary with a three-bladed sword rediscovers his royal heritage when he is recruited to help a princess foil the designs of a brutal tyrant and a powerful...
.
Plot
Queen Ma’at (Jennifer Siebel Newsom) finds her kingdom of Abelar under attack when treasure seekers accidentally open the tomb of vampire queen Xia (Whitney Able). The Queen sends her half-sister, Princess Tanis (Melissa Ordway), to the outlaw city of Douras to find her real father so he can save the kingdom. Meanwhile, servant girl Kara (Victoria Maurette) - who shares the same father as Tanis, but her mother is Xia - discovers her true nature as a vampire and begins hunting Tanis. Once in Douras, the Princess finds her half-brother Aedan (Kevin Sorbo) and convinces him to help her. Together they locate half-sister Malia (Sarah Ann Schultz), half-sister Rajan (Janelle Giumarra) and her daughter Alana (Inbar Lavi). With this small group they plan to stop the vampire queen Xia before it is too late.Cast
- Kevin SorboKevin SorboKevin David Sorbo is an American actor best known for the roles of Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Captain Dylan Hunt in Andromeda and Kull in Kull the Conqueror.-Early life:...
as Aedan - Whitney AbleWhitney AbleWhitney Able is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane and Monsters. She has been featured in Maxim magazine.- Biography :Able has two brothers and is a fan of Led Zeppelin...
as Xia - Melissa OrdwayMelissa OrdwayMelissa Ordway is an American actress and model. She has modeled in many campaigns and acted in such films as 17 Again and on television in Privileged.-Background:...
as Princess Tanis - Sarah Ann Schultz as Malia
- Janelle Giumarra as Rajan
- Inbar Lavi as Alana
- Jennifer Siebel Newsom as Queen Ma'at
- Ralf MoellerRalf MoellerRalf Rudolf Möller is a German and American actor and former competitive bodybuilder. He is best known for his roles of Brick Bardo in Cyborg, Kjartan in The Viking Sagas, the title character in the television show Conan the Adventurer, Hagen in Gladiator, Thorak in The Scorpion King and Ulfar in...
as General Hafez - Matthew Willig as Giant Iberian
- Lee HorsleyLee HorsleyLee Arthur Horsley is an American film, television, and theater actor known for starring roles in the television series, Nero Wolfe , Matt Houston , and Paradise . He starred in the 1982 cult film, The Sword and the Sorcerer, and recorded the audiobook edition of Lonesome Dove...
as Talon
Production
The sequel was originally announced in the end creditsEnd Credits
"End Credits" is the first single from Drum and Bass duo Chase & Status' second studio album No More Idols. The single was co-written, co-produced and features vocals from Plan B and was released on 29 October 2009, reaching a peak position of No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart...
of The Sword and the Sorcerer
The Sword and the Sorcerer
The Sword and the Sorcerer is a 1982 fantasy film, starring Lee Horsley, Richard Lynch, and Richard Moll, directed by Albert Pyun. A mercenary with a three-bladed sword rediscovers his royal heritage when he is recruited to help a princess foil the designs of a brutal tyrant and a powerful...
.
Director Pyun announced to the movie news website Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News is a website founded and run by Harry Knowles, dedicated to news, rumors and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films and television projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic-book and action genres...
in August 2007 that the sequel was in preproduction.
After over two decades of gestation, the production officially beginning with the writing of the script in November 2007. Numerous locations including Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
were considered for filming. Argentina was finally chosen with shooting to begin in May 2008 on a proposed budget of $450,000. Despite sets being built for the film in Argentina, the production ultimately chose to not film there. Instead, most of the principal photography was completed in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
According to director Pyun, actors considered for the film included Yancy Butler
Yancy Butler
Yancy Victoria Butler is an American television and movie actress known for her roles as Natasha Binder in the 1993 John Woo film Hard Target and as Detective Sara Pezzini on the TNT supernatural drama Witchblade.-Early life:...
, Kari Wuhrer
Kari Wührer
Kari Samantha Wührer is an American actress and singer, mostly credited as Kari Wuhrer, sometimes as Kari Salin.-Early life:...
, Mark Dacascos
Mark Dacascos
Mark Alan Dacascos is an American actor and martial artist. He won numerous karate and various styles of kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18....
, Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
, Steven Seagal
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal is an American action film star, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist and reserve deputy sheriff. A 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, Seagal began his adult life as an Aikido instructor in Japan...
, Olivier Gruner
Olivier Gruner
Olivier Gruner is a former Commando Marine and World Kickboxing Champion. He became an actor specializing in the field of physical fitness.- Early life :...
, and Christopher Lambert
Christopher Lambert
Christophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert is an American-born French actor who has appeared in French, European and American productions. He is best known for his role as Connor MacLeod, or simply "The Highlander", from the movie and subsequent movie franchise series of the same name...
.
Sequel
The film ends with a cliffhangerCliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...
and the promise of a second sequel entitled Red Moon.
Release
The film had its official North American premiere at the Fright Night Film Fest during July 2010 in Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
.
Pyun briefly toyed with the idea of releasing the film direct to DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
independently through his website in limited collector's editions in March 2010. While pre-orders were taken, the idea was eventually cancelled and refunds issued.
The film was released on DVD in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Despite being an officially licensed releases, director Pyun maintains these versions are not his final cut
Final cut privilege
Final cut privilege is a film industry term, usually used when a director has contractual authority over how a film is ultimately released for public viewing.- Condition :...
and that the eventually United States release will feature a new beginning and ending.