We’ve been talking for YEARS around The Movie Blog about the future of Conan The Barbarian. It has been in development hell for a LONG time. But now it appears there is movement on the Conan front. Movieweb says:
Millennium Films has acquired the rights to Robert E. Howard’s mythical conqueror. Fredrik Malmberg, president and CEO of Paradox Entertainment, chose Millennium after winning the rights from Warner Brothers last spring. His aim is to get the film into production by next spring.
This will be the biggest production Millennium has ever mounted. The film is being put together on a very tight timetable. Many big names have worked on the Conan The Barbarian script over at Warner Brothers these past seven, including Larry and Andy Wachowski, John Milius, and Robert Rodriguez. Boaz Yakin wrote the last known version to come out of that studio. But all of their hard work is being scrapped. Malmberg and Millennium are staring over with a completely fresh screenplay.
I love the Conan character and that whole world in which he lives. I’m a total sucker for fantasy films (I’ve even actually… and you’re going to laugh at me… been thinking about playing a good old fashioned game of D&D in the near future. Crap I haven’t played that game in like 15 years. Anyway… end of tangent), and I’ve been excited about seeing more adventures from the big man in animal loin cloth. BUT…
As I’ve also always said… it MUST NOT be Arnold. Move on from Arnold. Arnold is too old and out of shape (by his standards) to reprise Conan the King. Just let that whole idea go (which I’m sure they have… at least I hope so). Get a new guy in there, and give us Conan again. I mean for goodness sake, all Arnold did was grunt and yell “GGAAAAAAA!!!” a couple of times. Not hard to replace.
