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More screenwriters to have their try on Conan

Over the course of the last weeks and month REH fans have been in on a coaster-ride when it comes to the movie project. It all began, when the first writing team was announced (Oppenheimer/Donelly) and because of their track record did not earn many claps from the community. Later the writer team Blackman/McCain joined the cause, both showing a real interest in the works of REH, with active participation in the conan.com boards. Together with their passion for their own project Outlander and their open approach to communication on their blog earned them some appreciation with the REH fans.

Suddenly all was turned around, when it was announced that instead of B/M the O/D script was the one that “nailed” it, against public disdain for the first leaked versions of the script. The last weeks were filled with new, very disturbing rumours, a very disturbing casting call character description and a new review of a more recent version of the O/D script which didn’t show any improvement when it came to quality or REH respect. While everyone will understand, that liberties have to be taken, there is absolutely no reason to completely change the character of the stories into an emo-rock-hero type.

Now, after a petition has made it’s round through the web, Paradox has chosen to report another detail on the production of the movie on the official Conan boards. There is another team of unnamed writers to start with yet another rewrite of the script. We will see how that turns out for us fans of quality fantasy and REH.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 9:28 pm and is filed under Official Conan Movie News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

16 Responses to “More screenwriters to have their try on Conan”

  1. derFeef
    At 11. November 2009 22:10 o'clock

    That sounds quite interesting. However, I think the core story is the problem and I am not sure if a “rewrite” can resolve that.

  2. norse_sage
    At 11. November 2009 22:16 o'clock

    Yes! Yes! Yes!

  3. MAXIMUS germanikus
    At 12. November 2009 00:43 o'clock

    Sounds nice

  4. matsellah
    At 12. November 2009 02:30 o'clock

    I don’t know how many times I can cross my fingers without developing arthritis. But (as they say), once more into the breach!

  5. Taran
    At 12. November 2009 03:16 o'clock

    As far as I can tell, they haven’t scrapped the script and started afresh. It’s just a standard script doctoring before shooting. But doctoring can be pretty extensive, so who knows? They might make it less than horrible.

  6. Thomas
    At 12. November 2009 12:37 o'clock

    Well thank christ that the internet lets a fan community exert at least some force on an endeavor like this one. As for hope… well Im not holding my breath just yet.

  7. Yakinthos Sekeris
    At 12. November 2009 13:40 o'clock

    They should adapt the “Born on the Battlefield” story arc from Dark Horse Comics, proceed with “The Frost Giants Daughter” and maybe make some minor changes to use Yara as the main villain and let the film reach the events of “the Tower of the Elephant” before it has an epic end… This cannot be THAT difficult can it?… :O

  8. Garrett
    At 12. November 2009 17:33 o'clock

    finally some good news on the script.

  9. Fayric
    At 12. November 2009 20:22 o'clock

    Not too reassuring, in my opinion. At least it proves paradox is aware, and maybe a bit concerned, of the upset fanbase.
    But the whole script is still based on an orphan Conan seeking revenge. So ok, maybe these secret writers can make it a decent phantasy movie, but we are still being robbed of the great Conan epic we were promised.

  10. Adtje
    At 12. November 2009 21:46 o'clock

    I’m afraid the promise what was made to the conan fans.. remains a promise, and will never be seen on the big screen.

  11. Tyrus
    At 13. November 2009 03:29 o'clock

    I agree with Yakinthros,
    Why is it so hard for the so called expert writers to pin the REH stories together, if they are experts and know the material you would think they could fill in the rest.
    Who am I kidding they suck!

  12. ocmano
    At 13. November 2009 22:13 o'clock

    The Oppenheimer/Donelly script needs to be burnt and never looked at again.

    If they’re doing a Conan origin story it should start with the Cimmerians sacking the Aquilonia settlement and Conan’s discovery of the civilized world during the conflict. That would setup some following movies for him to go out into the world.

    The Revenge theme is WAY overused and non-original. I’ve read all of Howard’s work and revenge was hardly ever a motive in them. From what I’ve read Conan’s adventures in the original stories often started with curiosity or desire, rather than revenge.

  13. Steve Dilks
    At 15. November 2009 22:09 o'clock

    Yet another team of writers.Yah de yah.How much of the budget on this will actually make it to the big screen?I agree with some of the other comments that this wont be a complete overhaul just some re-editing. Dont hold your breath thinking this is going to be an epic 300 like extravaganza either.By Crom i can smell naff bargain basement bullshit all over this film.

  14. Andrew
    At 19. November 2009 15:04 o'clock

    They are using the revenge motif because they think the character needs a fleshed-out backstory, a guiding motive for doing what he does and it will give the film a binding narrative arc. Trouble is, they are wrong in this case, as Conan is essentially a mysterious loner – famously, no other Cimmerian ever appears in an REH story and why he left home, his family etc are left a deliberate mystery, etc etc.

    They need to watch the Man With No Name films of Sergio Leone to see how you can build up a compelling story with a gripping sense of place and time and drama without knowing a thing about a character’s motives or backstory. In some REH stories, Conan is like the Clint Eastwood character – mysterious, amoral, brutal, a destructive force of nature, but with his own code of justice – often guided by greed or sheer curiosity/search for adventure, a character coming from the barbaric desert to disturb/excite/enrage the “civilised” townsfolk, heading off again into the outlands etc etc. Plus the Leone films were grounded in a dirty, scuzzed up, detailed and realistic milieu, despite some of the outlandish characters and events. That should be the template for a Conan film, not some childish and cliched fantasy revenge film.

  15. Hobie
    At 25. November 2009 17:22 o'clock

    Wow Andrew. I really hope a writer reads your post. Excellent. I never mentally made the Leone connection before and it’s brilliant. Yes, postioning Conan in such a way could actually ADD to the intrigue of the character for the new-to-Conan movie goer.

    Yes, a backstory explaining a characters childhood is very common in reboots. But it doesn’t HAVE to be that way. It all came together for Bruce Wayne in the well when the bats freaked him out after his parents were killed. Check. Got it. Now I understand grown up Bruce.

    Maybe someone important in the process of the movie will, hopefully, read your post. The mysterious stranger with only hints of his background would be refreshing nowadays given the backstory-that-over-explains-everything trend. Not to mention the revenge plot device is used way too much as it is.

  16. Matt
    At 20. January 2010 03:22 o'clock

    Damn it, just follow Robert E. Howard’s novels and short stories! How freaking hard is this? They’re going to ruin the last great masculine hero. To hell with them!

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