A while back, we learned that Arnold Schwarzenegger had agreed to reprise his role of Conan the Barbarian for THE LEGEND OF CONAN. In an interview, writer-producer Chris Morgan (WANTED and FAST FIVE) talked about how he convinced Arnold and the story he has planned.
How he described the film to Arnold: “Not a reboot, not a remake. Just an update. Where has the character been all this time? A catch-up with Conan.”
The story: “He’s not going out and fighting battles, but he ends up getting drawn into something and he has to access the barbarian he was in his youth. I love that Conan has been many things in his life, notably a pirate, a major tactician and a commander of men. In this movie, we’re going to tap into some of those things – things you haven’t seen on screen yet. I want the warrior whose joints have started to fuse together, who has to crack the cartilage so he can pick up a sword again. I want the guy who’s not necessarily lost a step, but there’s some rust he has to shake off. I want to embrace that. It makes it a greater hero story.”
“Conan needs to be faced with challenges. The greatest challenge to him isn’t the armies that are set before him. It’s, on some level, self-doubt, a little bit of slowing down and forcing yourself to be heroic beyond what people expect of you. What I don’t want is for him to step back in and look the same. That would defeat the purpose of our story.”
He’s not signed on to write the film, but he will be involved in some capacity: “No matter what, I’ll be there every step of the way. Whether it’s penning this quickly or selecting the writer, it’s me guiding the process or being a real honest-to-god producer. I’m excited either way. I’m really, really stoked.”
Apparently the film will be ignoring CONAN THE DESTROYER and the recent reboot with Jason Mamoa.
