Since the 2011 Conan the Barbarian movie starring Jason Momoa failed to impress most audiences, the next attempt to bring Robert E. Howard's character back to the big screen has been focused on bringing Arnold Schwarzenegger back to the role. Five years after those plans were announced, it was revealed earlier this week that The Legend of Conan would not be moving forward because Universal was no longer interested in making it. However, now there's word that the project may not be 100% dead as previously thought, according to Fredrik Malmberg, the President and CEO of Cabinet Entertainment, and a producer on the still-to-be-realized movie. He said:
We were very excited and spent years working with Chris Morgan to make Legend of Conan. Ultimately, the studio let the rights expire. The positive news is that Conan Properties now controls everything again, and are currently producing both TV and Film with a lot more control than we had previously. Everybody wants The Legend of Conan to happen and it will.
Fredrik Malmberg provided that statement to The ArnoldFans.com, saying that even though The Legend of Conan has hit a setback, there's interest in not just still making the movie happen, but also releasing other media projects centered around the formidable warrior. Keep in mind that this does not mean that The Legend of Conan has been green-lit again. This movie has been in development for a long time, and it may stay that way for years to come, especially without another studio currently attached. Still, this is surely better than the death sentence that was implied a few days ago, and Conan Properties having full creative control may mean putting out a better product in the end.
It's been an unusual month for Arnold Schwarzenegger and his possible return to certain franchises. On one side of the spectrum, he stated earlier this week that without Sylvester Stallone's involvement in The Expendables 4, he would not reprise Trench Mauser. Then there's been the conflicting reports about whether or not efforts to continue the Terminator series have been scrapped, with Schwarzenegger saying that he was looking forward to making another Terminator movie. With Conan the Barbarian still in the mix, the odds are slightly higher that he'll reprise at least one of his past roles, if not several of them.
The plan with The Legend of Conan is to follow up on 1982's Conan The Barbarian, but ignore the events of 1984's Conan the Destroyer. Writer Chris Morgan said the story would take place 30 years after the original movie, comparing it to Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. There was also a follow-up film being planned called Conan the Conqueror, but with The Legend of Conan's setback, it's hard to say whether or not this "third" movie is still in the cards, too.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates on how the Conan the Barbarian movie and TV projects are progressing.
