Conan the Barbarian is on his way to returning to theaters, but it seems unlikely that he’ll be played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Warner Brothers pictures has hired Remember the Titans director Boaz Yakin to write and possibly helm a reboot of the once popular Conan franchise, according to Variety. Yakin’s take will be based on the same Robert E. Howard character popularized in movies by Arnie back in the 80’s, but this will be a new take on the character, not a sequel or a spin off from Arnold’s films. That leaves them free to cast some young, hot, dude of the moment to play the character. Expect “Rock” casting rumors to commence immediately.
Yakin’s take is already being touted as more faithful to the original Howard story, even though he hasn’t written a script yet. I’m not sure who cares whether or not it’s faithful, but for those of you who do, there you go.
If you’re a Conan fan though, there’s some cause for concern. Sure, Yakin directed Remember the Titans, but he also directed the abortive Brittney Murphy vehicle Uptown Girls, and wrote such quickly forgotten disasters as Dirty Dancing 2: Havanna Nights. The best moments of Yakin’s career have been spent making inspirational Disneyfied sports movies like Titans, or the 1990 hit The Rookie. Sword and sandal barbarian movies haven’t exactly been a big player on the better parts of his resume.
The WB plans to kick off production on their new Conan movie in 2007, which means if it happens, expect it in theaters for 2008. If you were still holding out some faint hope that the long rumored, much anticipated Schwarzenegger Conan sequel King Conan might eventually happen, now might be a good time to forget about it.
