Lionsgate to Revive Conan

Posted by Michelle Graham (michelle@filmschoolrejects.com) on January 11, 2008

A long time ago, in a galaxy not so far away, lived a man, some call him a legend, by the name of Conan the Barbarian. With two movies and a TV show to his name, he was played by the rather large Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movies, and by Ralf Moeller in the TV show which lasted a grand total of one season. The movies remain classic 80s fare, with damsels in distress, strapping men to rescue them, power chords and big hair all featuring heavily, and most believed them to be best left to that era, with only fond memories to remember them bye. Nostalgia forgives most things, and so Conan became epic, only screened late at night when your brain is less aware of what’s quality and what’s not so much.

However, the execs over in Lionsgate must have been awake for one of those late night screenings, as they’ve just acquired the rights to a new series of Conan movies. The first in the series is to be written by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer (who previously worked together on Sahara), and work commences as soon as possible, i.e. when the WGA strike finally ends and work on new projects can begin. However,Conan may not have to wait that long, as Nu Image/Millennium chief Avi Lerner has confirmed that he is in talks with the WGA in an attempt to broker a deal similar to that which United Artists negotiated a few days ago. If this occurs, Conan could begin production whenever the studio is ready, along with whatever other projects are in the pipeline for Lionsgate.

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