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Conan shooting begins and main cast is confirmed

After Paradox and Millenium kept themselves pretty closed up about the recent casting rumours, that have been going around on the web and the start of principal photography, they released a press announcement on their company portal, in which they unveil and confirm pretty much all of the casting rumour we’ve been telling you about. Note: Rose McGowan rumour officially confirmed, you heard about it here first ;)

Principal photography started today (15th March) in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Nice to finally get some confirmation on the rumours, best would be a new story synopsis or a better casting description, because the present casting list and character (even name) description might be very much outdated. All we lack now is some spy in Bulgaria, that makes some set shots or connects us with the people working on the production. If anyone lives in Sofia Bulgaria and wants to participate in this lil project, contact me on Facebook.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 11:56 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.

83 Responses to “Conan shooting begins and main cast is confirmed”

  1. derFeef
    At 17. March 2010 00:09 o'clock

    I am somehow excited!

  2. m
    At 17. March 2010 00:56 o'clock

    you know, I have to admit, somewhere in the back of my mind, I didn’t think this was really going to happen, but here we are, finally another conan movie. And yeah I harbor a very skeptical attitude towards the filmakers earnestness to the character and stories, and based on most of the news, the skepticism is warranted. however I’m gonna be a man about this and say if they are genuine about showing folks the dark atmospheric exciting world of Bob Howard and his reaver conan , well, best of luck and if you’re true to your word , well there will be a good conan movie and alot of folks will put their feet in their mouths. If not you’re gonna blow a chance of what could be a franchise that can and deserves to rival batman , bond potter,and other moneymakers based on pulp heroes … and we’re gonna curse you out even more.

  3. Fayric
    At 17. March 2010 13:44 o'clock

    @m
    Well said!

  4. Paul
    At 17. March 2010 15:10 o'clock

    I just want to see pictures of Jason as Conan. If he looks the part my fears will be eased. I mean it can’t be any worse than the orignal Conan movie with the slab of meat that tried to play Conan and failed IMHO.

  5. Hobie
    At 17. March 2010 16:16 o'clock

    Paul, don’t let you opinion be called humble. It’s spot on. Arny was just terrible as Conan.

    I hope they listen to M’s post above. Take a lesson from the latest Batman movies, the Spider Man movies and even Richard Donners Superman. They were all HUGE hits and stuck VERY closely to their source material.

    There is no reason to make the same mistake as Arney’s disaster by trying to appeal to the every goddamn person out there.

  6. Abel
    At 17. March 2010 19:30 o'clock

    http://www.nuimage.net/film_library_detail.asp?txtQuickSearch_FilmTitle={07357C80-178C-4F5F-BA83-3346820BDC73}

  7. grifter
    At 18. March 2010 12:15 o'clock

    Hi there, people. Please excuse my bad english. I’m a Conan fan from germany and in the mid fourties.

    I read my first original conan story when I was fifteen in a book with a Frank Frazetta cover. So far, you can imagine how I think about the movies/series that have been produced since.

    The first Conan movie done by John Milius with Arnold (I think he was great in other movies) was so disappointing for me, he had only muscles but whether the agility nor the intensity of the original character. Just slow with a dumb face and habit. So was the whole movie.

    And I just don’t want to talk about the shameful creations of a Ralf Möller series for families.

    Since I heard of this new project, I am just swallowing all the news. Because its such a great stuff, just to be made a movie.

    My favorite director would have been Peter Jackson if this had been a high budget production. I think with his experience in doing horror and fantasy movies he would have done a movie with thrilling atmosphere and intensity. The second would have been Ridley Scott who also could have turned this into a new highlight in fantasy moviemaking.

    Now, that this is a low budget project my hope lies in todays possibilities of post production. Look at the „making ofs“ from „Lord of the Rings“ for example, how they made the light interesting that it didn’t look like a vacation movie from the bahamas.
    Those directors can make even „low performers“ look good (I think the only one with charisma until now is Stephen Lang). There should be a „vibrating“ atmosphere as in the original stories.

    I hope a Marcus Nispel knows how to use this tools to „build“ his characters and sets in the pure sense of Howards original stories. There is a great chance for him.

    I wondered why they need to wright a special script for a Conan movie, there is no reason. If they just adapt one original REH-story and did it well, it would be much better than telling a new story (Conans father, conan as a child, who the hell needs this?).

    Well, we’ ll see, hopefully it will get at least further in REH direction than the other things did so far.

    Yours
    Grifter

  8. Fayric
    At 18. March 2010 12:53 o'clock

    I think Nispel can work some nice scenic techniques. That and choise of actors has been the stronger sides of his previous work. But the problem with this whole production is the people with the money (and absolutely no imagination or sense) has a big say in the general outline. If Nispel is allowed to do his own movie, it could at least be a decent adventure movie, if not a decent conan movie.

  9. Fayric
    At 18. March 2010 12:56 o'clock

    … sorry about the abuse/repetition of “movie” at the end of my previous post;)

  10. Waldgeist
    At 18. March 2010 12:58 o'clock

    @Fayric I hope we are grown ups in here :D … you will not get any grammar flames, at least not from me ;)

  11. m
    At 18. March 2010 14:09 o'clock

    nispel is very iffy. I saw pathfinder and where I thought the look of the flick was stylized and nice, the plot , acting and everything almostmade it unwatchable which is a shame because it is a visually interesting movie. Now I actually enjoyed his friday the 13th, because in any of those movies you just put your brain to sleep and enjoy the silliness of it all. I hate his texas chainsaw massacre, the original is one of my top 3 favorite horror flicks and I felt he “butchered” it. He did some kind of frankenstein movie too, I only saw about 5 minutes ( on my way out )of it but it seemed actually interesting. I think ultimatley he will bring a visually handsome looking flick, as I said in an earlier post, a living frazetta painting. Can he get performances out of his actors? Can he work with a script that may be a lame duck?

  12. Steve Dilks
    At 18. March 2010 20:07 o'clock

    I just downloaded and read John Milius’ King Conan: Crown of Iron script.It has its faults but reminded me of a sort of cross between John Boorman’s excellent Excalibur and Gladiator.Lots of original Howard references from ‘The phoenix on the sword’,'The hour of the dragon’ and even ‘Worms of the earth’.There is a silly bit about an ice worm but I think with a bit of tweaking this would have made a good movie,or a very interesting one at least.Recomended reading.Anyhow I’m trying to visualise this Nispel production.Photoshop stylism might make a living Frazetta canvas with which to work on as M says and again I find myself agreeing with him;Can the actors pull it off?Given the amount of rehearsal time they have(virtually none)will they have enough faith in the material?

  13. Rabensblut
    At 19. March 2010 10:33 o'clock

    I seen the Frankenstein movie based on Koontz novels. It was supposed to be series and then it was cancelled. It had Vincent Perez and Thomas Kretschmann in it. I have this flick on a DVD and kinda liked it. It has a very dark athmosfere.

  14. Rabensblut
    At 19. March 2010 10:35 o'clock

    This looks interesting: The Last Voyage of Demeter by Marcus Nispel: 2009′s Friday the 13th director Marcus Nispel brings to life the deadly voyage of the Demeter from Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel in this Phoenix Pictures production. The story will expand upon the passage in the novel whereby the dreaded vampire lays waste to a entire crew of a cargo ship on his way to England.

  15. Rabensblut
    At 19. March 2010 10:36 o'clock

    About the Frankenstein movie: This made-for-cable Frankenstein was originally intended as the pilot for a weekly series based on Frankenstein: The Prodigal Son, a novel by Dean Koontz and Kevin J. Anderson. The story is set in modern-day New Orleans, the home of demented scientist Dr. Victor Helios (Thomas Kretschmann). Helios is in fact the original Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who has kept himself alive these past 200 years by a series of diabolical genetic experiments. During the same two centuries, Frankenstein has managed to keep alive the original Frankenstein’s monster, and has also created dozens of other synthetic humans capable of reinvigorating themselves whenever they are “killed.” Of course, the doctor’s experiments require that a number of innocent people unwillingly give up their own lives — and when the bodies start piling up in the Big Easy, detective Carson O’Connor (Parker Posey) and Michael Sloane (Adam Goldberg) start putting the clues together. Ironically, in this story it is Frankenstein who is the villain (in standard serial-killer fashion he tantalizes the cops by planting cryptic clues), while the doctor’s main monster is the nominal hero, and a good-looking one at that. Dissatisfied with the finished product, Koontz and Anderson took their names off Frankenstein, as did the project’s original executive producer, Martin Scorsese. The unsold pilot film made its USA network bow on October 10, 2004.

  16. Rafa Ojos
    At 19. March 2010 13:12 o'clock

    Where did you download the “King Conan” script from, Steve? I’m really interested in taking a look to it. Could you post the link, please?

  17. Fayric
    At 19. March 2010 14:19 o'clock

    About the Demeter movie:
    I like the idea. It could be made into a very creepy claustrophobic movie. But in the end I dont see how it could be anything else but a splatter, following the chainsaw massacre and friday the 13th, just with 19th century sailors instead of panicked girls;) Its just not enough story to expand on.
    Well, maybe its nice to see those movies too sometimes.

  18. m
    At 19. March 2010 14:40 o'clock

    @fayric- you gotta take those movies for what they are, a quick cheap laugh or thrill. they can be fun. actually last nightI watched on fearnet this 80′s movie called the gate with a very young stephen dorff. Now the acting was a standard lame ( a bunch of teens what can you expect?) and it wraps up way too conveniently for me but the stop motion harryhausen style is a rip to watch and i never realized from before ( I was ten when this came out) that it liberally lifts from hp lovecraft! I hear its being remade now too, seems every horror movie the past 30 years is getting one. meanwhile I see lovecraft in a very similar position as howard… a proper translation of his work is yet to be done. ( by this I mean a “big” picture, there’s a modern movie made to look like a silent film version of call of cthulhu which I highly recommend!)

  19. Steve Dilks
    At 19. March 2010 20:57 o'clock

    Hey Rafa Ojos,go to http://www.mypdfscripts.com/unproduced/king-conan-crown-of-iron.Or google king conan:crown of iron screenplay and follow the link.I photo copied it and its quite hefty with some Frazetta illos. put in as reference.Let me know what you think of it!I heard something on that silent b/w Lovecraft fan movie a while back.Reading Howard i can imagine Conan being done just like that.Its all exaggerated ballet movement with the characters and unbelievable dialogue that looks so much better writen than spoken.I thought that soon after seeing Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.

  20. Rafa Ojos
    At 19. March 2010 21:05 o'clock

    Thank you so much, Steve! I’m starting reading it right now.

  21. m
    At 19. March 2010 23:45 o'clock

    it was made by the lovecraft historical society either in 2006 or 2008. I had netflix at the time and rented it . its very entertaining.Gonna check out milius king conan too. thanks for the info steve!

  22. Steve Dilks
    At 20. March 2010 07:54 o'clock

    Just seen Jason Momoa clips and photo montage stuff on you tube…Aaaahhh!Did anybody see this stuff before they considered him?What are they thinking?The guy does not look like an imposing barbarian warrior to me.Not unless you have a phobia of designer dreads.Saw the theatrical trailer for ‘Call of Cthulu’ .Looked pretty good for a fan effort.I think silent movie stars were more mime trained and pretty physical,often doing their own stunts.More hands on,the sort of thing Conan should be.No surprise Sandahl Bergman was so good in the original movie- she was a ballet dancer too.Jason Momoa can fold a mean t-shirt though, from what I’ve heard.

  23. Fayric
    At 20. March 2010 12:49 o'clock

    @m
    I have seen the wonderfull call of cthulu movie! Im a great Lovecraft fan and really enjoy the love and humor they made that movie with. Even if you quite often find Lovecraft reference in old horror movies, I too awaits the first big adaptation of one of his works. The dunwich horror was recently re-made, but I have not seen it (anyone who recomend it?).
    The best shot at a big lovecraft movie was when IMDB announced Guillermo del torro to make “At the Mountain of madness”. I still wait for that one, as it will be one of the greatest movies ever made;)

  24. m
    At 20. March 2010 13:34 o'clock

    I’ve heard the he may do the mountains of madness, he would do a great job. Yeah ,lovecrafts influence is everywhere from carpenters the thing to i think even the original ghostbusters( not directly but its there).I’ve never seen the dunwich horror.is it good?if anyone gets a chance check out call of cthulhu, it’s a lot fun and as fayric said it was obviouly a labor of love.and no Momoa self admits he was stuffed in a lot of lockers in high school, and I have seen him on youtube as freakin “ronon dex”. While I’m not impressed, nispel made this choice so lets leave it on him to see what he does with his idea of what conan is. I won’t compare Momoa to the backlash Daniel Craig first recieved because at least Craig was an established actor, these guys are taking a far bigger gamble on Momoa.

  25. m
    At 21. March 2010 00:53 o'clock

    anyone see the trailer for predators? i think it looks sick…

  26. Steve Dilks
    At 21. March 2010 08:44 o'clock

    I doubt Nispel actually had a say in who was decided to play Conan as even he himself was brought in at a relatively late stage of this project.The whole movie stinks of maticulous company exec market planning whereby “lets pull someones file who is cheap and used to this sort of flick” is the order of the day.As for Lovecraft,he may have influenced special effects monsters to a degree but I think it was his prose that made him so much larger than the sum of his parts;a rich mixture of A.Merrit,Edgar Allan Poe and Lord Dunsany. I think his influence on literature far outweighs any claim to any cinematic achievement.Has anyone read Clark Ashton Smith or C.L.Moore?These were real writers who could paint with words.Ironic they were considered little more than hacks in their day.

  27. Steve Dilks
    At 21. March 2010 08:47 o'clock

    Oh, by the way, with his height and dreads maybe Mr.Momoa should have auditioned for Predators instead!

  28. m
    At 21. March 2010 09:51 o'clock

    I agree with that,he definitely had more influence in literature. to name a few, robert bloch, stephen king, dean koontz ,richard matheson are all 20th century writers that have been influenced by lovecraft to some extent.If horror writing was the blues, Lovecraft ‘d be robert johnson! ( for this century at least)I wonder why out of nowhere conan got so fast tracked,when it was in development hell for so long? I can only guess with the success of movies like lord of the rings , 300 a dim light turned on in one of these executive guys heads and said, “duh hey, we can uh , do conan, that movie with arnold from way back! ” ” it’s got swords, boobs, duh it can be like 300!” “$$$$”!!! I don’t know, but I do know most if not all rushed projects turn out bad anywhere in any field. Momoa should’ve auditioned for predators, he could’ve played wild teenage predator who surfs as well as hunts…vegetables,cause he’s a teenage vegetarian predator.

  29. magben
    At 22. March 2010 11:47 o'clock

    Fredrik Malmberg is the Hollywood producer giving new life to ”Conan the Barbarian” Conan will be a mix between Jesus, James Bond and a biker.

    Page 38

    http://www.metro.se/se/misc/pdf/2010/03/22/SESTO_2010_03_22.pdf

    I will be able to help with translation later in the afternoon if you are interested.

  30. Waldgeist
    At 22. March 2010 12:10 o'clock

    @magben

    Thanks for the info, Google Translate did the trick. Not really anything new, just that they keep repeating how difficult it is to portrait Conan as Conan in a movie, because he is so much of an anti-hero… don’t know, that just sounds like an excuse for what he will become in the movie.

  31. m
    At 22. March 2010 22:30 o'clock

    I can safely say my skepticsim has descended into despair… james bond ,jesus and a biker… i dont even have words for how lost this dope Malmberg is… THEIR CONAN SOUNDS LIKE A POLIITICALLY CORRECT AMALGAMATION OF PERSONALITIES THAT CANNOT POSSIBLY COEXIST AS ONE PERSONALITY!!! THEY WILL NOT PORTRAY CONAN AS HE SHOULD BE BECAUSE THEY TRULY LACK THE COURAGE TO DO SO!!!! sorry bout that waldgeist, for some reason that comment struck me to be more insulting than any of the other wonderfully depressing news that has come out of this production, I had to vent a bit. Does anyone agree?

  32. Steve Dilks
    At 23. March 2010 08:24 o'clock

    Crom forgives you my son, now go with thy blessing and these flowers while I saddle up my throbbing metal steed and charge into battle to save the earth from a mad sorcerer for the Aquilonian government.

  33. m
    At 23. March 2010 09:39 o'clock

    “Warrior!” “What are the flowers for?!” ” For a gurrl !!”

  34. Steve Dilks
    At 23. March 2010 20:01 o'clock

    Conan has been a major part of my life since I first came across an Ace paperback when I was ten years old.I don’t remember the “Conan the leper healer” or “Conan: For it is he – the messiah”.I vaguely remember a story where he gets crucified though.Can anyone help me find these long forgotten classics?Twenty pieces of silver to the Fredrick Malmberg Conan heritage protection trust fund for a mint copy of any of these books…

  35. m
    At 23. March 2010 22:32 o'clock

    yeah but don’t you remember the part of the new testament where jesus bit the vulture pecking at his wounds, pulled the nails out of his crucifix, and was taught the riddle of steel from john the baptist???My fellow barbarian , I know how you feel. I’ve been a fan since childhood and when i discovered the original stories as a teen ,it even helped me cope with a personal loss at the time. He is one of if not my favorite pulp hero ( I’m a fan of the literary james bond as well as mike hammer ,sam spade ,too many to list)Even now with the wife two kids full time blue collar job, I still like to be a kid and pick this stuff up when I can , especially conan.I totally dig this blog too. It’s not just the jesus reference, that was plain stupid.( makes me wonder how the film was financed though…)it’s like Malmberg threw in names based on what he thought was relevant and what would sell. I know anyone would want their film franchise to be as successfull as bond’s and conan’s stories lend themselves to be episodic , much like bonds, each one pretty much individualized from another.But the method of storytellng , and characterizations are not the same at all. I know bond has been considered a contemporary of conan, but i think it was said for other reasons( attracting interest) I actually think mike hammer is a better modern contemporary ( not the stacey keach show the old mickey spillane stories) the sex and violence of its hero turned heads in it’s day.And any fool who glances over a page of any barbarian comic or cartoon ( thundarr , he man) will go and say ” duh he is like a prehistoric duh biker dude”I mentioned in another post some ideas for cinematic interpretation. I think movies like yojimbo ( amoral swordsman playing two gangs against each other for his own profit, incidentally ridding the town of these gangsters ) or the spaghetti western remake a fistful of dollars, are great springboards at least to start . When I think of more ( maybe indiana jones?) I’ll throw them out and explain? If you can think of any , throw it in. Lata

  36. Steve Dilks
    At 24. March 2010 08:25 o'clock

    The cinematography of Excalibur and the action choreography of Braveheart combined with the epic sweep of Gladiator would allay some fans apprehensions somewhat.Costume,set design,location, believable casting and acting…Some dedication and thought, basically.I rooted for Milius’ “Crown of Iron” because at least he brought his own vision to the Conan legend that tied in with Howard’s on some levels.Too,love him or hate him,Arnie represented Conan better than anyone else could at the time. I would have loved too have seen that saga wrapped up as Milius envisioned.Robert Rodriguez was attached for a time.That excited me.I thought “Desperado” was great stylistically.

  37. m
    At 24. March 2010 08:41 o'clock

    I couldn’t agree more.At least with milius there’s consistency.Seemed like the original conan the barbarian was,more like a interpretation of howard stories in general rather than a direct adaptation on conan alone.Milius , i thought, went for more the prehistoric aspect of the stories more than the fantasy ( alittle) while throwing a bit of philosophy,to me seeming more kull-ish but it worked. As I said before , there was really no one like Arnold in 1982 , a bodybuilder who was crossing over to films with success.Can a better version be done? sure. Can someone outdo arnold? of course, but for what it is, it’s solid. And a damn amazing musical score on top

  38. Fayric
    At 24. March 2010 18:28 o'clock

    Hm, what Malmberg says is:
    “[Conan] has his own moral code. For him, civilization is corrupt and doomed. The only true human nature is that of the barbarian. The primitive, physicaly strong beeing. For me Conan is like a biker. He follow his own code. ‘What you do to me i will pay back doubble’.”

    Now, this actualy is not so bad statement (unless we start to argue about if Conan actually has a “code” or just improvise;).

    Malmberg goes on to explain why Conan is likeable by a modern audience, and explain:
    “But Conan is also charismatic and intelligent. Almost like a Jesus figure, or the new James Bond”

    Thus, he dont actualy say Conan will be a mix of Jesus, Bond and a biker. He just use them, in a rather clumsy way, to explain something about Conans conflicting personality. Note that he use “Jesus figure” and “the New James Bond”, not Jesus and Bond them self. At least that is the way I read the “article”.

  39. Steve Dilks
    At 24. March 2010 19:50 o'clock

    Conan… bigger than Jesus.Hmm.Hey, M I was thinking of your literary tastes and wondered if you had ever read Leigh Brackett.She combined tough edged pulp noir thrillers with Howard and Burroughs in interplanetary settings and it worked beautifully.Check out The sword of Rhiannon ,The nemesis of Terra or track down her Eric John Stark novellas and three novels.He was her Conan/Tarzan.She wrote the screenplay for Bogart in The big sleep and George Lucas hired her to write The empire strikes back.Unfortunately she died before completing it.I’m sure,like me,you will fall in love with this woman and her writing.

  40. m
    At 24. March 2010 22:31 o'clock

    I think fayric ,malmberg would love conan to be the new james bond as far as a new franchise is concerned,(imagine that? if done right would be great, 40 years of conan films, different actors to compare , where they went right where they went wrong) but you def cleared things up. I couldn’t open the article for some reason so I basically yapped out of my ass out of disgust on what I thought it summed up a shortcut on my part, I apologize I was wrong.now that i understand i’ll say this: the biker comment to me is still too easy and obvious.The jesus comparison thing seems to happen with a lot of superheroes ( richard donner’s superman).I do belive conan has a moral code ,he is a hard worker, he does accumulate skills and masters them, he is loyal to those who are good to him,he is true to his word, he is fairly chivalrous when a woman has “earned it” etc etc… I theorize sometimes, that I don’t think so much that conan had a disdain for civilization ( maybe howard did? i dunno) I think he was befuddled by it considering he is an outsider and he had so little chance to survive but ascends to greater successes than those born into it.I do agree that he did not think it would last, but could that be attributed to his conviction that nothing lasts in the long term?Steve I’ve heard the name leigh brackett tossed around, can’t quite remember where, but I will definitely check it out.a few years back a cousin gave me this book by a guy haruki murakami, i thought it was wild . it was a few years back it was hard boiled something or other.

  41. Big V
    At 25. March 2010 04:21 o'clock

    They are filming and no set pic’s yet? This suck’s.

  42. Fayric
    At 25. March 2010 13:04 o'clock

    @ m. Murakami is great, but the stuff I read by him was a bit like Catcher in the rye (or other Salinger shorts) with just a hint of surreal. But I suspect he has a very changing style because most peopole say his work is a blend of Tolkien an Kafka(…)

    If you guys like Lovecraft, you should check out Caitlin Kiernans “Red Tree” (If you have not already). She usually have some Lovecraft hints in her stories, but this book is the perfect Lovecraft style horror story, still free from Cthulu mytos namedropping. Its about an author moving in to an old house in new england, where she finds an atropological manuscript concerning the local folk lore, and the old house in particular;). Her best work yet.

    And thank you steve for the autor tip (Leigh Brackett). I will sure try to find her work.

  43. Kuvrat
    At 25. March 2010 13:33 o'clock

    Hi everybody,
    I just wanted to share some information, if you already didn’t know, that I met on the Istanbul airport a very huge and known guy named Nathan Jones:).
    I saw him running around and searching for Information on his flight. Than I walk towards him and asked him, if he is, who I thaught he is. He was a very nice guy and told me, he will fly to Bulgaria for shootings on the new Conan movie, but he is not Conan.
    I told him that he is too bald, like me, for Conan, even he has a barbaric look.
    A realy nice guy.

  44. Waldgeist
    At 25. March 2010 13:58 o'clock

    Thanks for sharing Kuvrat :D

  45. derFeef
    At 25. March 2010 16:38 o'clock

    Thats great Kuvrat. I would be to much of a sissy to talk to that guy.

  46. Steve Dilks
    At 25. March 2010 20:07 o'clock

    Empire movie mag over here in the UK have just done a great article on Conan.It made my rainy day sitting at work reading it.I think M is on the right track when he said Howard was anti-civilization,not Conan.His character was the focal point to point out all its corruptions,weaknesses,decadence,etc,where we the reader feel obliged to root for this untainted free man from the wild cold valleys.Conan loved civilization because he loved the stakes,the gambles and the treacheries.He loved life and learning and knew his strength was, in their haughty arrogance, that civillized folk often underestimated him.

  47. Steve Dilks
    At 25. March 2010 22:14 o'clock

    By Crom!Just downloaded Oliver Stone’s original 1978 “Conan” screenplay.Its(get this!)set in the future, after a nuclear war presumabely,and has hordes of mutant armies and cloned beast men. Go to http://www.conancompletist.com a rather cool looking French site with english translation dedicated to the original movie.Some nice trivia,rememberances, interviews and stuff.Is it me or does this new movie look like its gearing up to aim at the 12 year olds?

  48. m
    At 26. March 2010 01:38 o'clock

    @steve:I had read some of it some time ago, it’s fun to see how much of it was retained in the milius film ( I think stone did get a credit for it). It’s a lot of fun, and stone ( maybe being a man who has seen real war) shows a better understanding of conan than one could anticipate… as much as I admittedly enjoy the first one, I’m actually not sure arnie could’ve pulled off stone’s conan. Milius seemed to cut out a ton of conan’s dialogue…and stone wrote very good dialogue, I think so anyway.

  49. Steve Dilks
    At 26. March 2010 20:08 o'clock

    What would we LIKE to see in this movie?I think Conan going head to head with a CGI ape , giant snake or some such should be on the agenda-a mammoth skull busting bruiser of a battle where Conan comes out all bloodied and battered mumbling something like-”Well you can’t battle a demon out of hell and expect to come off with a whole skin” whilst brushing the obligatory concerned wench aside with a contemptous sweep of his arm and grabbing for a casket of wine.I want to see golden domed cities with galleons in the harbours.I want the splendour of the Hyborian Age this time round not a few woods and some dodgy dirt track hovels passing off as Zingara knocked up by some east european buiders desperate for a few euros.

  50. Finn
    At 26. March 2010 23:44 o'clock

    I want to see Conan fight an army of spitting camels with his bare hands. It probably won’t have a UK release.

  51. CN6
    At 27. March 2010 15:56 o'clock

    Well, this is new. Rose McGowan is listed as “Red Sonja” on IMDB:
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816462/

    So, instead of getting another role, she’ll actually make a cameo on the movie, then?

  52. m
    At 27. March 2010 18:48 o'clock

    It matters not who she plays, it’s what little she wears that counts!!

  53. Steve Dilks
    At 27. March 2010 20:25 o'clock

    Red Sonja has “FINANCIAL PROBLEMS” according to Robert Rodriguez who goes on to say that the producers are waiting to see how well “Conan” does before commiting to its development.Looks like thats going to be even worse than this then.

  54. Fayric
    At 28. March 2010 15:04 o'clock

    I suppose the Red Sonja movie will be based on the comic, not the Howard character. I understand there is a slight differens, with the chain-mail bikini and all.
    I cant say I look forward to any Rodriguez movie; they are usually great for about 15 minutes before you (I) loose interrest.

  55. m
    At 29. March 2010 01:42 o'clock

    I liked desperado and el mariachi, didn’t care for once upon a time in mexico, or most anything else he’s done since ,but i think the potential is always there with him. Never cared much for the red sonja character either, no enthusiasm for a movie there.The original is as unwatchable as ever.Just saw terminator salvation, not really sure what it was trying to accomplish.Not as bad as I thought it was be but def the worst of the 4 , I think. Is it me or does christian bale really suck in it?

  56. Steve Dilks
    At 29. March 2010 08:07 o'clock

    I watched “The sword and the sorcerer” last night,an early ’80s flick cashing in on barbarian.There are some laughable haircuts and costumes and it starts off a bit dodgy but by the end I was impressed that they actually tried to make it work.The main hero is called Talon and there are some nice homages to Howard’s Conan stories in there.At one point,surrounded by his enemies,he even growls;”Who dies first?”Theres a resurrected sorcerer dead three thosand years out for revenge and a bevvy of beautiful wenches.I’m almost ashamed I enjoyed it but if made today political correctness would sap the life out of such a movie methinks.

  57. Fayric
    At 29. March 2010 14:35 o'clock

    They are making a sequel to “the sword and the sorcerer” right now, called “Tales of an ancient empire” starring some old classic action/adventure faces
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136688/
    it looks pretty horrible, but for once its not a remake, and its the original director giving the world another try.
    But then again, I didnt like the original much, even if it was a good attempt at a more Conanesque hero and storyline. I really like the eighties fantasy movies, but something is lacking in this one. (oh I have given it at least 3 tries, because many people recomend it and I want it to be good, but it always fail me;)

  58. Fayric
    At 29. March 2010 14:47 o'clock

    cont.
    Also note that the original Talon actor plays Talon in this one as well, and that, even if the male cast is older action stars, the female cast is young and perky. Still looks horrible;)

  59. Finn
    At 29. March 2010 15:50 o'clock

    That ancient empire movie actually looks pretty good to me. It’s got the actors who played Highlander, Kull, Conan, and Batman all in the same movie. Of course, the dungeon siege movie had a lot of recognizable faces and wasn’t worth wiping my ass with.

  60. m
    At 29. March 2010 16:38 o'clock

    Hey a guilty pleasure is a guilty pleasure. I checked out a few minutes of it on youtube( never saw it before) and it seems like a rip. the first five minutes ( resurrecting the sorcerer) seemed more howardian than all of conan the destroyer even if it was bit hokey. I myself have a soft spot in my heart for that 80′s bakshi/ frazetta collaboration fire and ice. I also always get a kick out of the original heavy metal.

  61. Steve Dilks
    At 29. March 2010 19:11 o'clock

    I love “Fire and Ice”!Ok ,its about 30 mins too long and that wolf head guy does try too sound like John Wayne but its a blast.That new sequel to “The sword and the sorcerer” was mentioned in the end credits as coming soon!That was 1983 for Crom’s sake!I think if they had made the original a comedy it would have been a classic.Check out the fight at the end right from where the sorcerer reveals himself to the fight between Talon and the evil king where they keep breaking swords and keep pulling out new weapons from secret concealed sheaths and stuff.Its hysterical.Did anyone ever see “Hundra”?A female Conan.I got my grandad too hire out all these movies as a kid.

  62. m
    At 29. March 2010 20:06 o'clock

    I gotta try and find this sword and sorcerer and see the whole thing, it looks like fun. when is this sequel coming out?Bakshi also did wizards, which is a pretty cool flick. his early films are definitely a guilty pleasure, I think I’ve seen all except fritz the cat. If you want to see something really trippy, try his lord of the rings, it’s weird!

  63. m
    At 30. March 2010 01:48 o'clock

    Has anyone here been on the website The Cimmerian? it a bob howard/ fantasy site and I just read an article about the casting: If anyone thinks we’ve been trashing this flick, check out Duece Richardsons’ october 2009 article “( mis) casting call for a barbarian( y’all better sit down for this one)” Best article I’ve read on this movie so far, and if you think you’re disgusted now… ( only cool hint that maybe christopher lee doing voiceover narration, any truth to that ?)

  64. Rabensblut
    At 30. March 2010 10:43 o'clock

    I saw Hundra couple of years ago. Hard to get. That is a gem of a film.

  65. Fayric
    At 30. March 2010 14:52 o'clock

    I grew up with Bakshis Lord of the rings. I still have his interpretation as default when I think of the characters (nothing against PJ, just… well). To bad he didnt get funding to do the whole thing.

  66. m
    At 30. March 2010 15:21 o'clock

    I reread that conan article : the author was kidding about the christopher lee bit. sorry.I read at first peter jackson claimed he didnt see bakshi’s version but came clean when certain scenes seemed to be directly lifted from bakshis version.( ex ; the nazgul stabbing the pillows at the inn in fellowship) is this true?

  67. Steve Dilks
    At 30. March 2010 18:59 o'clock

    I picked up Bakshi’s “Lord of the rings” for my girlfriend on her birthday.She loves Tolkein but (choke!) can’t stand Conan.I’ve tried many a time to change her opinion but,alas,to no avail.Sometimes when I come in I find my prized mcFarlane King Conan with an accessorey war-axe thrust up his loincloth.I actually liked that (Bakshi) version but was bored of the smug hype surrounding the Jackson movies.Has anyone heard “Keen of the Crow”? They are a black/death metal band who did an album “Hyborea” a couple of years back.Its themed around the story of the original movie and is pretty damn good.

  68. Kike
    At 30. March 2010 19:46 o'clock

    They are shooting right now… WHY WE DON´T HAVE ANY INFORMATION OF THE PRODUCTION???

    Where are the official pics? Where are the UN-official pics? Where are the interviews, the featuretes…?

    This movie is in the works and everything seems to be dead!!!1

  69. m
    At 30. March 2010 19:52 o'clock

    @ steveI have a few of those mcfarlane conan !i’ve seen the king conan one, it is sick. I kept them in the box: one of them he has either a sword or a war hammer the other he has armour on, gotta look for them. I like jacksons lotr, I really enjoy his fellowship the best, but I don’t know, there is something very pompous about return of the king I can’t put my finger on. Two towers is solid though.Bakshi was the first to try I give him a ton of credit, and his early animated flicks have this weirdness I totally dig, lotr is no exception.Never heard of keen of the crow, but I have a few buddies from back in the day who might know.I have a conan question: How much controlling interest does mr decamp have( or had)in cpi ( conan properties)?what were the circumstances that exist today that allowed howards original works to be more readily available with mr. decamps slimy hands not ruining it?I understand that decamp saw a money maker in the 50′s and 60′s and basically looted the works, but what changed and when ? Is it because howards works are now in public domain?

  70. m
    At 30. March 2010 20:10 o'clock

    @kike: well it’s what 15 days into this , who knows , give it another 2 weeks. I think thats why we’re just shooting the breeze right now waiting for more “ugh” moments.if I was making a 100mil+ flick that (based only on what has been leaked thus far)alienates it’s core audience by taking the writings of a guy who deserves better and running in the exact opposite direction with it to cash in on the sword and sorcery /historical fantasy trend , Maybe I’d keep it quiet too and hope it doesnt go straight to dvd as it probably deserves to. My fear is ( aside that ” my children will never understand me;) ) is that this movie will end up being a huge success while completely ignoring it’s roots.

  71. Big V
    At 31. March 2010 00:42 o'clock

    I also would like to see some pics from the set, but M dose have a point, It has only been 15 days into it. I do think they could post some concept art and stuff.

  72. Big V
    At 31. March 2010 01:14 o'clock

    Not that it maters now but, I think a young biger Sonny Landham would have made a kick ass conan. He had the look and could have played a cimmerian with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth.

  73. Steve Dilks
    At 31. March 2010 19:13 o'clock

    Hey M whilst its true L.Sprague de Camp did use Conan for ends generally dubious, its the character I grew up with when I first started reading him in the early ’80s and therefore knew no better.Conan properties was formed out of his own interests when the original movie was being made to make sure he got a slice of the pie.I’ve read some hateful things about him but I have to say I thought his completion of Howard’s “Drums of Tombalku” and his story from the synopsis of “The hall of the dead” were top notch.I even enjoyed the pastiche novels with Lin Carter and Bjorn Nyberg for my sins.He died a few years back.

  74. Steve Dilks
    At 31. March 2010 19:26 o'clock

    The Robert E. Howard estate in conjunction with some true loyal fans (editor Patrice Louinet amongst others) got together wih Wandering Star Books to get Howard’s original texts back in print.After being a dedicated Conan /Howard fan since I was ten I still get a rush seeing a new title on the shelves!By the way M,I read the Oliver Stone 1978 script.I was amazed at how much was utilized in the original and truly astounded by the sheer bizarreness of it.But I found it an entertaining read,full of guts and gore and Howardism’s but totally unfilmable.Milius wittled it down and added depth I think.His own “Crown of Iron” script is another story…

  75. m
    At 31. March 2010 23:31 o'clock

    @steve:i too , read many of his( decamps, carters, nyberg’s) pastiches or
    “posthumous collaborations”as theyre known as well, it was all that seemed available here.I will admit I always got a kick out of conan the buccaneer and conan the avenger. Call me crazy but i think i’d rather see those as movies than what we’ve heard this one is shaping up to be like ( pray to mitra i’m wrong of course), I just never knew till recently what animosity decamp and his collaborators are met with and why.And i admit, after what you’ve informed me of de camp was very shrewd and love him or hate him he did help push conan through the 1950′s and 60′s. Isn’t that oliver stone script a rip?Unless it was animated I don’t see it possible to film or for arnie to portray either .Haven’t gotten to Crown of iron yet, I’m interested , after mainly reading stone’s script to see how milius does without stones script as aspringboard of sorts.I thought i remember reading about it, that it involves his son ( spelled kon not conn?) and a bit part with sandahl bergman playing some sort of bartender resembling valeria ?

  76. Rabensblut
    At 1. April 2010 12:14 o'clock

    If they made “Conan the rebel” into film it would be definitely a hit. Greatest Conan story except of Howard. It has all in it. Evil stygian sorcerer, a mythical weapon (the axe) that gives the wielder imunity against magic. Good story. The scene where Conan is surronded by an army of ghouls and fights the guts out of them…check it out.

  77. Rabensblut
    At 1. April 2010 12:15 o'clock

    Sorry i forgot the author: Poul Anderson

  78. Kike
    At 1. April 2010 15:31 o'clock

    I find “Conan the rebel” VERY weak… and i like Anderson…

  79. Steve Dilks
    At 1. April 2010 19:36 o'clock

    I agree.Poul Anderson wrote one of my all time favourite fantasy novels “The broken sword” back in 1956, it was a big influence on Michael Moorcock’s Elric not to mention taking the same Nordic saga influence sources as Tolkein did for his Middle earth epics,a full year before his was published!Unfortunately I found “Conan the Rebel” a half hearted effort by someone who had no seeming enthusism for what he was writing.I do like John Maddox Roberts efforts however particularly “Conan the Champion” and “Conan the Marauder”.He was later to complain about editorial policies trying to dumb it down for the kiddie market.His stuff retained some good Howard moments nonetheless and is better than most of the other Tor books writing team managed to churn out-some of which was ghastly.

  80. Steve Dilks
    At 1. April 2010 22:31 o'clock

    Apparentley, Patrice Louinet,fanatic Robert E. Howard editor,of the new editions books has seen pics of Jason Momoa and was impressed.When quizzed how much of this was just talk he said he liked what he saw.Go to http://www.thecimmerian.com

  81. m
    At 2. April 2010 01:28 o'clock

    Thanks for the heads up steve. I read the rest of the article, it expresses everything it needs to perfectly.I like that cimmerian site, lotsa cool stuff.hopefully we’ll get to see the pics within the next two weeks or so .It would be nice at the minimum to see an agreeable depiction of conan. as for the rest I’ll just reiterate my first post pertaining to this: if the movie works out ,I will be the first to apologize and eat my feet.If it sucks, ha ha!On another note, I wouldn’t know which pastiche writers to go with aside carter nyberg and decamp for good conan stories, some of them look horrendous. I read a review of conan of venarium and I cringed. How’s this robert jordan guy?

  82. Steve Dilks
    At 2. April 2010 06:57 o'clock

    They all pretty much suck, unfortunately.Like I say John Maddox Roberts was the only one I got any real enjoyment from.Robert Jordan I found dull and uninspired.But thats just one guys opinion.Jordan was very successful elsewhere in the fantasy field.

  83. Simon Musk
    At 7. April 2010 18:04 o'clock

    I have to say that I am looking foward to the movie.It would be impossible for Hollywood to portray Conan as he should be! They would have to rate the film as an adult movie and they just would not have the balls to do that-money talks!!
    I remember reading an interview with Frazetta years ago and he was fairly dismissive of Arnold playing Coanan.he said what was needed was a 6 feet 6 version of the late Charles Bronson to bring Conan to life! William Smith who played Conan’s father in the Milius movie would have been a superb Conan when he was in his thirties or even forties.I still think triple H wouls have made a great Conan.Lets hope for the best and pray that Jason Momoa has really bulked up for the role!

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