Reviving franchises seems to be the norm for aging action stars, and Arnold Schwarzenegger has quite the library to comb through. He’s ready to head back into theaters next week in Terminator: Genisys, but he’s also dishing some tidbits on another long-lost series attached to his name: Conan The Barbarian.
The long rumored Legend of Conan film seems to be back on again and Schwarzenegger dropped a few hints about what we can expect in the new film at a recent press junket according to Nerd Report:
“I was hoping to do another one and I was hoping that the idea of Conan having been king for a long time, then just threw it all away and went into retirement and went off into the mountains,” Schwarzenegger said after the press conference. “That whole idea always appealed to me. Then of course he gets asked back because of some hideous and unbelievable things that are happening to the kingdom. So that’s when the battle begins again.”
Slash Film provides a few more details, tapping into some old interviews with Conan screenwriter Chris Morgan to detail how he views the character and wants him to be portrayed on the screen:
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.”
Slash Film continues on with other details from over the years, providing a clearer picture of the movie. The Legend Of Conan is aiming to be a brutal sequel to the original film (and Conan The Destroyer, dammit) and everything we’ve heard so far points to a story that holds that line. King Conan wears his crown on a troubled brow and the movie sounds like it will reflect that, at least at first. The only real hurdle is getting the movie made, something that’s been a long time coming and featured a few detours along the way.
(Via Slash Film / Nerd Report)
