Somehow, “Conan the Barbarian” has returned.
“King Conan,” a follow-up to 1982’s “Conan the Barbarian,” once again starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, is in the early stages at 20th Century Studios, TheWrap has learned. Oscar winner Christopher McQuarrie, who most recently helmed four “Mission: Impossible” outings (and received Academy Award nominations for writing and producing “Top Gun: Maverick”), is set to write and direct.
Schwarzenegger first mentioned the project, created by pulp author Robert E. Howard in 1932 in the pages of “Weird Tales,” over the weekend at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio. On stage at the event, the actor said he has been approached by Dan Trachtenberg to do another “Predator,” that there is currently a script for “Commando 2” and that McQuarrie had just been hired to “write and direct ‘King Conan.’”
“You write it age-appropriate. I’m still going to go in there and kick some ass, but it will be a bit different. With ‘King Conan,’ it’s a great story – he’s been the king for 40 years and gets kicked out of the kingdom slowly and there’s conflict and he comes back. There’s all kinds of madness and violence and magic and creatures. Now, of course, you have all of the special effects and the studio system has plenty of money to make it really big,” Schwarzenegger said on stage.
At the end of “Conan the Barbarian,” you get a brief glimpse of Schwarzenegger in full “King Conan” mode when the story jumps to the future. While a sequel, 1984’s lackluster “Conan the Destroyer,” was made, there have been repeated attempts to bring the “King Conan” story to life.
In 2012, “The Legend of Conan” was announced, with original writer/director John Milius expected to return. As the years wore on, various writers were attached to the project, including Will Beall, Andrea Berloff and Chris Morgan, with production set at Universal Pictures, the home to the original film (20th Century distributed the original film outside of North America).
A 2011 “Conan the Barbarian” movie, directed by Marcus Nispel and starring Jason Momoa in the title role, was produced by Millennium Films and distributed by Lionsgate.
McQuarrie was just given the Visionary Award from the Saturn Awards, presented to him by his frequent creative collaborator Tom Cruise. McQuarrie and Cruise first collaborated on 2008’s “Valkyrie” before partnering on “Jack Reacher” and “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” (which McQuarrie co-wrote), “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning” and “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.” McQuarrie also worked on “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” and “The Mummy,” all with Cruise.
Given the success of “Top Gun: Maverick,” which grossed $1.49 billion globally and was nominated for six Academy Awards (including Best Picture), McQuarrie seems the right person for the job. If anybody can resurrect Conan, it’s him.
