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A visit on the set of the new Conan movie

A journalist of Sofiaecho.com had the chance to visit the Conan film-set in Bulgaria in the Nu-Boyana Filmstudios in Sofia, to linger on the set and meet some of the movie’s stars in person. Jason Momoa, Rachel Nichols and Rose McGowan were not present, but Stephen Lang, Ron Perlman and Bob Sapp were there to meet him. The first article is only about Stephen Lang and he only quickly scratches the fact, that he is interviewing him in the trailer on the movie set. In the second article he talks to Ron Perlman in his trailer and asks him some questions and insight as to why he chose to play Conan’s father Corin.

It goes without saying, that the journalist praises the quality of the film-sets in the highest fashion. After all his article is for a local magazine, so take his words with a grain of salt ;)   It’s sad, that the writer did not provide any set shots, to back his opinion.

It’s also interesting that Perlman says, he took the job to play Corin, because of the quality of the script. I hope that Andrew Lobel’s hands worked a magical job and Sean Hood follows through with what he started, so that we too can say: We like the movie… because of the quality of the script. After all… it’s a movie about a character, created by one of the most esteemed and praised writers of modern Fantasy.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 11th, 2010 at 9:00 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.

  • derFeef

    Going to read that articles. Ron Perlam said the script was good and because of that he took the role? But… he played in Outlander ;)

  • http://www.ageofconan.com Waldgeist

    I think that was the other “bulgarian” movie, that he was to ashamed to mention to the interviewer hahaha.. but to be honest, I enjoyed Outlander a lot. It’s a well done, well written, well directed movie, GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES. Of course it could have been better, but the conditions the director had to work in where impossibly hard and unfair towards the whole project.

  • derFeef

    Its not a bad movie, the atmosphere is there and everything was believable, but there were lot´s of missed opportunities. But better than Pathfinder aka “fast cut and zoomed in viking movie” for sure. Did not know about that unfair conditions though.

  • http://www.ageofconan.com Waldgeist

    http://outlanderthemovie.wordpress.com Mr. Blackman writes a good bit about that stuff there. About how unfair they were treated, like sudden cuts in budget in the midst of production etc.. defined 120 minute length, that was not to be extended by any means. That’s why the credits roll past to fast etc…

  • http://poderfriki.com Kike

    They still use the word “remake”…. Moron…

  • m

    Mr. Perelman seems to have a vested interest in conan as well. Red Nails cartoon, voiceover of conan in the ps3/xbox360games…anyone know if he’s gone on record stating he’s a Howard fan?From what the writer describes, it seems like they have been filming the flashback/ childhood sequence there. I’m sure the sets do look impressive. I don’t think there was any doubt in that area..I’m not going to diss this author, it sounds like he’s just doing his job, but isn’t it funny how no one wants to use the word remake for any new movie out based on old characters/movies? call it what it is.Example: john carpenters the thing.It doesnt follow the original point for point, but it’s still a remake. Today it would’ve been called a reboot or re-envisioning, just like they did with rob zombie’s halloween or nispels own friday the 13th , and that was a condensed remake of the first 3 flicks.Reboots or re-envisionings are just marketable ways of saying the following:A)an all out remake of the original film Examples of this are halloween, friday the 13th, dawn of the dead, nightmare on elm street,hmm see a pattern here? B) going back to the drawing board because this still marketable product flopped critically or financially last time due to mishandling. Examples of this could be spiderman 3 batman and robin , hulk xmen 3 various fantastic four /cap america, hmm I didnt mean to but I see another pattern here…

  • scott wheeler

    John Carpenter’s The Thing was not a remake and neither is this movie. They are both new interpretations of pre-existing source material. Firday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm St. and Dawn of the Dead were remakes. There is a difference.

  • Big V

    I really would like to see some pics, if not of Perlman or Mamoma then of the set.

  • Steve Dilks

    This “re-imagining” thing goes back to Tarzan.Look how many times they made that novel into a film and never got it right.From Johnny Weismuller to Christopher Lambert, the 20th centuries most enduring hero has never been portrayed properly.Sometime in the ’70s the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate refused adaptions of his books due to the poor qualities and inaccurasies in the material.Liscenced movies had to go under stringent negotiations,which is why Disney finally got the go ahead to do his classic “A princess of Mars”.Perhaps the Howard estate should take note…

  • norse_sage

    I am surspised that no one has so far mentioned what new information came from the interview!

    Should be taken with a grain of salt and subkect to change, but two new tidbits here:

    -Steven Lang plays Khalar Zym.
    -The movie is set 5,000 years ago.

    I have a problem a former because the name isn’t changed nearly enough, and I have a huge problem with the latter because it puts the movie firmly in ESTABLISHED history which there is no way in hell the Hyberian Age could co-exist with. That is just sloppy. I prefer the De Camp setting of 12,000 years ago to this.

  • Rabensblut

    According to Howard this is around 10 000 B.C. (believe my memory does not cheat me this time).

  • STEFAN

    Ha,ha, Stephen Lang was great choice for a main villain in Avatar. He said he supports American occupation of Afganistan and genocide in Iraq.

  • Rabensblut

    norse_sage is right, it was more or less Decamp’s setting not Howard’s (my mistake). But definitely 3000 b.c. was the time of Scorpion King (or Meni (Narmer)) and the unification of Egypt not of Conan.

  • Steve Dilks

    “…between the years of the sinking of Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas…” make of that what you will since no one knows what Howard meant by Aryas and whether he meant “sons of the Aryans”.I get the feeling attention to detail and accurate portrayal is not high on the agenda on this movie unless, of course, the journalist decided to hazard his own guess at time framing since there was no actual quote to go along with the comment.

  • Fayric

    To bad this is the only report from the set. The Journalist seems more interrested in showing of his own knowledge of old movies and actors than with the actual movie.
    By the way, is the unmentioned movie the “mutant chronicles” movie? That was a really, really bad movie based on a swedish RPG (why it caught my attention). Kind of a poor mans warhammer 40k, it starts out decent but soon turns to hideous crap.
    If you think outlander was bad (I kind of liked it), Mutant Chronicles is not even on the map.

  • Finn

    Arnold and Stallone were so cool that any movie they were in was automatically good (in my opinion). Perlman is cool too but not enough to save shitty movies like mutant chronicles and outlander, and I guess the new conan. Maybe because he is not usually the main character. Maybe at the beginning of this movie it will say “Based on the character which was based on the character which was created by Robert E. Howard”

  • m

    @scott : while I am very much in agreement with you that this conan ( and nolans batman series for that matter)is a new series and not a remake, isn’t a remake by it’s very nature a “new interptretation of pre existing source material”? aren’t the remakes of dawn of the dead, nightmare on elm street,, friday the 13th ,halloween, the thing , king kong etc just that?That is new interpretations of source material, as you’ve stated towards conan and the thing? @ all: I see they’ve changed khalar singh to zym: singh is a hindu name used for a distinct group of indian buddhists correct, and I think that may have been a reason for the change.You know steve, I always had in my head this stupid idea that the “sons of aryas had something to do with either the greek or roman or even earlier like mesopotamian civilizations.@finn: although it is brief , stallone schwarzenegger and bruce willis appear in the expendables together on screen, the movie is definitely a throwback.

  • scott wheeler

    The source material for King Kong the remake, Dawn of the Dead the remake and Friday the 13th the remake were King Kong the original, Dawn of the Dead the original and Friday the 13th the original. For things like Conan or even The Thing you have both the first and second films being unique interpretations/derivatives of original source material. Remakes tend to be much closer to the original works. Reinterpretations of other source material tends to be not so close. That is especially true with source material that is serial in nature. You can see this in things like the Batman movies and Superman movies.

  • m

    i guess it depends on how much creative license you’re willing to take from the original. you have something like dawn of the dead, while entertaining , to me it misses the point of the original and becomes more of a shock value type of thing, whereas friday the thirteenth could pass as a sequel in how it blends in with the others ,despite where it plot comes from.I am aware that both versions of the thing come from a short story and that carpenters is the one that is more loyal.@steve: its true tarzan has never been done right, but for that matter, how often has sherlock holmes or bond been done correct? There’s too many holmes flicks out there where he battles commies and such, and maybe 4 or 5 out of 22 bond movies follow the novels plots to even a small extent (read all of flemings works can only think of connerys first two, her mjestys secret service and maybe some of casino royale) look at conan thus far too.

  • Fayric

    @m
    While Singh is a traditional Indian name, i have never herd of it in a buddhist context (and buddhism has been a hobby project of mine even since before I studied religion at my university;) on the other hand, I admit there are alot of buddhist schools I have yet not herd of). Sing is also the evil Pirates of the comic “the Phantom”;)
    About the Aryas, both Hindu and Persian myth has the concept of a divine race of Aryans batteling other divine races id the distant past; In fact the remnants of the Persian empire still bears the name “Aryan” in the form of “Iran”. I dont know if Howard was aware of this, but it dont seem improbable.

  • MacSween

    You gentlemen are extremely knowledgable about the world of Conan, so could one of you say what is considered the ‘canon’ date for when the Conan stories take place? I mean, i’ve read the graphic novels and stuff, but was always unsure how many thousand years ago the stories took place. Thanks in advance.

    Shameless plug: http://www.macsween.co.uk :)

  • Steve Dilks

    Thats easy macSween!The Conan stories are set “…between the years the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas…”
    Which is to say methinks Howard was being deliberately vague.I think it was actually P.Schuler Miller and Dr.John D. Clark who wrote to Howard wanting to outline a chronology of Conan’s adventures.I believe it was they that put forward the notion of the Hyborian Age existing roughly 12,000 years ago about the time of the last ice age in reality.Who knows? Perhaps it really did exist and the scientists got it all wrong…

  • m

    @ fayric: I had thought singh was a popular name amongst the seikhs( hope I spelled it right) . I actually got my info from a very good article (oct 2009 i think) from the cimmerian.com, it was at the time bashing the movie for among other things, using the name singh for the chief villain ( which we see was changed to zym, is that zoroastrianism?just kidding).As far as I knew the hyborian age was supposed to exist like everyone else seems to believe or accept , 10 to 12 thousand years ago.Now if you want to count Kull into this canon, since he is actually in the same continuity as Conan( as the kingdoms of kull I believe are at least referred to in howards hyborian age essay preceding conan)How far back does Kull precede conan? I think its 8,000 years.Though Macsween,before getting caught up in the many different continuities that exist for conan I suggest just sticking to the original stories by howard first and foremost. The coming of conan the cimmerian , the bloody crown of conan, and I cant remember the name of the third edition all have the original unedited conan stories if I’m not mistaken in the order they were written ( or published ? not sure)I say this because there are many bad pastiches out there, and you really wanna get the real deal. Anyone ever hear of conan of venarium ? I read a review for a while back and it just sounds hideous . Cimmeria is described as a nice village with multilevel housing?!

  • Steve Dilks

    I remember when first reading the Ace paperback “Conan” as a kid that the stories were set in the far future.I don’t know why.I was intrigued when I found Oliver Stone had written his screenplay hinting at the same thing.
    Hey M,I think Cimmeria also applied to the Aquilonian council to have a Crom-mart multi plaza built which was rejected thus resulting in the battle of Venarium.It was here that Conan got his first glimpse of civilization and realized his long held ambition to become a property developer.
    Singh means lion does it not?”Aryan”,as Fayric rightly points out,applies to the Iranians although became the widely popular term meaning literally- horse taming tribe.But as to Howard’s “Aryas” mentioned in the Nemedian Chronicles its a mystery that,if a mistake, has never been corrected or cleared up- even in the de Camp editions. been corrected.

  • Steve Dilks

    Oops!First line of above.Meant to say- “I remember thinking when first reading…” Sorry.

  • Fayric

    Ah, the Sikh may well use the name of Singh. They are originally an Indian religion that is somewhat a merge of Muslim and Hindu, but relly has made it a religion by it self (I think they are the worlds 5th largest now, even more followers than Judaism). Im sure Wikipedia can tell us more;)
    The change to Zym can very well be to better match the geografy to culture.

  • serg

    dont be missled buy the quote “After all his article is for a local magazine, so take his words with a grain of salt ” people,Sofiya is one of the ancient and beautiful cities in Europe so dont think its some kind village=) Im from Ukraine and visiting this place constantely! to give you a hint the prices of their wellknown restaurants are much higher than in america-but this is just a good thing!!! Im as well glad that less and less shit-comments appear in the blog!!! those who like to crapping the movie-get off!!! We are fans of Conan or what? im really dying to see the movie-my friends think im wrong in the head(i became so obssesed with this flick-to pity im stuck with job and cant go to bulgaria) Please!!!! dont say word REMAKE-REBOOT and other shit!!! this is just another image of great life of great Conan!!! just pray they gonna release the film faster than 2011!!! Momoa is great choice for conan-and the whole cast itself!!! damn i cant wait!!!! somebody already found out whats the budget of it?

  • Steve Dilks

    About 60 euro.

  • http://www.ageofconan.com Waldgeist

    @serg
    Latest number is 70 Million Dollars.

  • m

    Crom mart special…the best venison in town. I love it!

  • Rabensblut

    By Crom, if this film is made right, I will celebrate and drink three bottles of Borovicka…but still I think it is going to suck…

  • m

    lets all chill and have a beer, no matter what happens we’ll always have howards works to fall back on, I raise my glass to that. And whilst my family slept , I finished the conan game last night, the programmers thanked crom in the credits, as if he’s really listening!! har !

  • Monilith

    I’m enthusiastic about new Conan movie. I promise to chill and I’m having a beer :) !

    Please guys, don’t judge the movie before you see it. I don’t understand negativitivy! (well I’m simple man from Finland)

    I saw “Clash of Titans” (3D). I was disappointed. I am sure, new Conan will be better! Script will (must be) better.

  • Finn

    I am trying not to be too negative, but the more you value something, the higher your expectations are. Imagine if somebody broke into the Louvre and painted all over the Mona Lisa to make it look like Richard Simmons? All the art people would be pissed. But instead of the Mona Lisa, it is Conan, and instead of Richard Simmons, it is Jason Momoa.

  • Steve Dilks

    This looks like being (if the information about 70 million dollars is correct) a big budget B-movie.I honestly believe that there has been no proper prepping for this movie.Who are the conceptual artists?What about the prop makers and set designers?I seem to recall Arnie and crew having nearly two years to prepare for barbarian.Momoa had,what,six weeks?Most of the actors at that point still had not been cast.I really want this movie to work-I’ve waited 26 years for a new Conan movie.My sense of excitement when I thought “King Conan:Crown of Iron” was going to be made has been replaced on this production by a cold and cynical feeling.In short I don’t have faith in Paradox entertainment.They allowed the screwing up of “Solomon Kane” by all accounts by letting it become some sort of “Van Helsing meets Lord of the Rings” el-cheapo nonsense.If a quick buck is all they are concerned about in liscencing and selling Howard’s characters they had better watch out.L.Sprague de Camp didn’t get off so easy in the long run.

  • m

    negative, positive, neutral, we all have a right to our opinions and feelings on this matter ,and they do not have to be justified to anyone. We have been taking the news as it comes so far, and discussing and debating(with a respect to one another that I’ve never seen on a blog post before, go on yahoo’s mma boards and you’ll see the kind of babies that exist there) what could be facts and rumors,there’s no harm in it.So have that beer, its 4:30am here in ny,I’m off to the gym, and then to crom-mart later.It’s gardening season soon, and I’m gonna pick up some pict-axes!HAR!!

  • m

    oops i didnt check my clock, its 3:30 am and i am up waaaaay toooo early…..life of an earlybird

  • m

    A quick observation: I was just on the cimmerian.com reading an article on howards, and tolkiens inspirations or how it comes to them, and theres this picture of howard on the right. you’ve all seen it, his arms folded, staring away from the camera. This picture they have on the site is really cleaned up and clear and let me tell you, if anyone could’ve played conan, it was his own creator! What a tough,sullen looking guy!The other well known picture of him with the hat makes him look a little chunky ( could be the pose) but you really get a good look at him here.

  • Steve Dilks

    Yeah Howard was Conan which is why his stories are so vivid and gripping.Even the worst of them has a memorable scene,character or piece of dialogue.He wanted to be a hell raising, footloose wandering barbarian reiver-theres no doubting that!http://www.necropolisportal.co.uk/angelomega.html
    Check it out…

  • Steve Dilks

    Don’t think that link works,darn idjiit!Oh, well.

  • Ray

    Having just left Bulgaria as an extra on the set of Conan, I can tell you that this movie has potential of being entertaining. It’s not quite the vision I had for the movie, where I personally would have liked to see it be more raw and realistic, it has many other aspects going for it. I think the average person unfamiliar with the story will enjoy it…but some of the die hard fans may wish it followed more of Howard’s vision. We won’t know for sure until we see the finished product. Just make note that there are a lot of talented and charismatic people involved with this movie.

  • m

    Wow! thanks for the info ray,and for your honesty about the project too.Waldgeist , you really have a good thing here!Alot of people had their suspisions about the project not being true to howards writings,are you saying it completely divulged that much from howard or more from a die hard fans perspective? is there any other info you can divulge without giving too much away?(and getting yourself into trouble) i have a few questions and I understand if you can’t discuss too much plotwise:What exactly was your role in it? how much longer is the shoot, or did it wrap? Is it strictly bulgaria or will there be filming in other locales? Can you tell us a little about the art direction, set design( compared to other films in this genre if possible)?How much does an extra make?Of course Ray I think you realize it is a possibility you may not be telling the truth and pulling our legs,( I mean no insult but understand that behind this keyboard for all anyone could be anyone they feel!)But I believe you, everyone has been honest forthright without a chip on their shoulder or something to prove.

  • Ray

    My opinon is based on more of a die hard fan’s perspective. I was told not to divulge plot or story points. I was a Barbarian featured in some fight scenes and played a dead Barbarian in another ;) The film is scheduled to shoot into June I believe. They are filming in other locations. One I believe is in the Black Sea area. As far as set design, I only got to see the Cimmerian village which was impressive to me. The overall look of the movie to me is Comic book like instead of raw and real, in my opinion. It’s not necessarily a bad thing…it’s just not how I invisioned the movie. I got to meet some amazingly talented people that were also alot of fun getting to know such as Leo Howard, Ron Perlman, Bob Sapp, Nathan Jones and Milton Welsh amoung others.

  • Big V

    @ Ray, Like you said you can’t tell us about the plot or story ponts, but could you tell us if they got some of the little things right(i know they are not little things to us)like black hair for all Cimmerians, good realistic fighting, and good costume?

  • serg

    thats great stuff!!! Thanks Ray:) I guess you couldn’t capture Jason and girls(Nichols and McGowan) cuse simply not shooting yet. Well,as was said above,everyone has their own vision of the Epic but…we aint filmmakers so why not to stop all this shit debate-lets just talk not criticize!!!I guess the info is great for the comic funs(being in USA i came across the dark horse novels-they looked good!!!) but you want some original peace-well again what we can change?For me there is no difference raw and realistic or crazy-sorcery-fantazy-look sets!I just happy to experience the new image of Conan(which will be much better that 1982 thing!!!yeah!!! CONAN should with black hair!!!!)So please join me in this! And judging on what ray reported about the general of the movie,and what Lang and Perlman stated,and what Patrice Louinet said–I think its rolling wright!!! And Momoa goona look impressive for sure!!!HAHAHAHA( some of you didnt like that one:))Cheers!!!

  • serg

    P.S. I think the true Howard vision of Conan was in Howards head ONLY!!! There are no equal people in the world and as individual we have our own interpretation not only of Conan,but of our own world!!! So I guess we all just have to become directors and make our own vision of Conan!!! and share after

  • jobo

    Check out how Momoa works with the sword-short but great- 2.16

  • Ray

    You guys nailed it. As we read Howard’s stories we become mini directors in our own minds and begin to paint pictures and faces to his characters as we read, so not everyone is going to have exactly the same vision as other people who read Conan. I’ve also had the privilage of seeing some recent pics of Jason as Conan and even though he doesn’t quite carry the musculature I would like to see, I think he’s going to make up for it in his overall look, attitude, athletic ability and talent with a sword. He does look pretty good just not quite as big as I envisioned Conan to be. As far as the overall costumes and hair go…again not quite what I invisioned but non the less visually interesting. Wait until you see Nathan Jones as he plays Akhun. Talk about an awesome and imposing character.

  • m

    @Ray , again thank you for the heads up,and for sharing your time too , I am ( as I think everyone is, no mtter their feelings on the movie) are grateful.The guy on the cimmerian site saw pics of jason and was very impressed, which to me is saying alot cause those guys really know their stuff. Ray I have one more question for you: you responded on this blog and brought to light some things that were discussed, has this blog made any sort of impact at all? I know it sounds naive, but what the hell , figure i’d ask. thank you again.@serg: you are absolutely correct , when it comes down to it, only robert e howard could ever weave a conan movie to please the fans.And I’ve said it before and will say it again, if Momoa makes his mark and leaves a good impression , whether the rest of the movie is good or bad, I will boil my feet and eat them!!

  • m

    @ waldgeist : you really deserve a shout out for this blog by the way!My glass is raised ! Hark Hark!

  • Ray

    M, I can’t say for sure if this blog has made any type of impact in redirecting the vision of the movie. I never asked anyone if it had. My guess would be no. There’s alot of money riding on the success of this movie and I have to believe that it’s riding on the producers and Marcus Nispel, who are the primary visionaries of how this story is going to be portrayed, IMO. Again, based on the pics I saw of Jason, I believe he is going to be well recieved. He does have a fierceness that is fitting and my sister thinks he’s hot ;) , which is going to be more appealing to the general female community.

  • m

    Thanks again ray!best of luck to you

  • Steve Dilks

    Will somebody please tell me-will there be any dwarves?Heres to Ray!!Don’t forget everyone to look out for him amongst the hordes of dead barbarians at the start of the movie.Crom cracks a smile.

  • jobo

    @Steve Dilks
    Yo,buddy,just’ve forced my mind to remember if there were any dwarves!!!This aint tale of middlearth-this is Hyboria,man!!!Crazy shit!!!Vicious men,fabulous women and things from outta hell!!! probably already known,but just have found out one more odd filming location:the middle of south africa!!! (no idea set footage or scenes)
    —still I sence some doubts about Momoa as Conan(c’mon guys,you make feel like shit!!!

    p.s.recently was listening 300 soundtrack-damn!!! that’s on-fire shit!!! Does anybody know whats with musical apparel for conan???
    (sure wont be hard rock-what o you think)

  • serg

    to jobo
    I dont feel that way about Momoa-he will be great!!!but Ray is right-there will be allata ladies in theaters for HOT conan watch(man-thats silly shit))))))))))but what the hell,he is handsome man -its not his fault HAHAHA)
    I am musicin myself and thought 300 music was intense masterpiece but with gentle-oriental approach, would love to see some odd music moves for this flick!
    @Ray if you please answer Big V about how are sword fights done?( thats essential for this genre)
    and to everybody:I’ve missed the part about SGI-i know about Momoa eyes but is that all?

  • http://poderfriki.com Kike

    I hate 300 soundtrack. Conan needs something MUCH better…

  • Steve Dilks

    YO we need dwarves and lots of ‘em if this flick is to be any contender against Lord of the rings.Also a jester dude as a sidekick and maybe a mystical creature to help Conan out and stuff.Soundtrack by Evanescence would rock it!

  • m

    “you’re a barbarian, you live free in the world, you owe allegiance to no one…is that not so?” ” it is and it always will be!”who’s it gonna be,Patrick Stewart, Christopher Lee or Ian Mclellan as Epimetreus the sage!!!I vote for Roger Moore!!!And that’s ’cause Connery’s retired!! Hark hark!!

  • Fayric

    Maybe more Leprechauns than dwarves, to tie it together with Conans proto Celtic herritage. But seriously, they better show us Conan wrestle a primal ape-beast. You cant tell a good Conan yarn without an ancient ape-beast lurking in the shadows. That would at least prove the writers know their Conan;)

    Also Im glad, Ray, that you tell us they are not going for a grim realistic movie. I for one has always apreciated the humourus sides of Conan more than the hard action. Charisma rather than gore, thank you. I really dont want another 300 (wait, I think they are making a sequel to 300 anyways. Darn)

  • serg

    Ape or Giant Snake would work!!! But wait… is my English that bad…Last three posts…didn’t get it )

  • Alan

    RONALDO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! brilha muito no Corinthians.

  • m

    @serg :ignore my post I was just being silly, the quotes are from conan the destroyer.

  • Stampfer

    You can find the names of further bulgarian) actors and locations here: http://www.filmneweurope.com/production/news/production-conan-filming-in-bulgaria .
    One remarkable location is “The Golden Bridges” at Vitosha Mountain, a famous peak and winter sport resort near Sofia, the capitol city of Bulgaria and home of the Nu Boyana Studio, the headquarters of this film production. The Golden Bridges are also known as “The Stone River”, because it looks like a ribbon of stones and rocks running down the mountainside.
    Another interesting place for filming Conan is Bolata, a circle-like cove at Bulgaria’s northern Black Sea coast and a nature reserve. There are also caves in the cliffs where archaeologists found remnants of an ancient settlement dated as far back as 4th century B.C!
    You can find (thanks to Google) many pictures and infos of The Golden Bridges and Bolata in the www, for example the Wikipedia Sites:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolata
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitosha
    http://www.bulgariainside.eu/en/articles/The-Golden-Bridges-(Zlatnite-Mostove)/86/index.html
    My opinion: These locations looks fantastic, very promising and perfect for a movie like Conan. I hope these infos are true!

  • Ray

    Sorry guys…no dwarves or leprechauns at least when I was there…but there were some short Bulgarians playing Cimmerians ;)

    Most of the scenes I’m in, even where I’m playing dead, will be easy to spot me, because I’m the only sleeveless Barbarian ;)

    As far as the fight scenes…they are choreographed. Most movies require weeks of preparation for this, but many, if not all of the fight scenes were made up on the spot. Thank God for seasoned professional stuntman. There were the ones having a blast on the set in between shoots and during. The sword play is not full bore but held back with only about 20% of full contact of what a real fight may experience. The sword I was using was made out of wood and was beginning to splinter. Other swords are made out of aluminum or bamboo depending on who or what they are going to be used for. Most of the stuntman wear protective gear under their costumes, so when they do get hit by a sword, there is minimal risk of injury.

  • serg

    Damn I relly have to consult with my English dictionary!!! Sorry for being stupid—so Ray,are fight scenes gonna look atleast non-amateur?
    ps no wonder thay were not prepeared-everything was set so crazy before production!!!im relly dissapointed about that info

  • Ray

    serg, IMO, they won’t look amateur. Leo Howard, who plays young Conan is a black belt, who had plenty of experience with choreographed sword play and looked great in his fight scenes. Nathan Jones, who plays Akhun, is an experienced wrestler and has some amazing fight scenes. The stuntmen working on this movie are the same ones, who worked in the movie 300 so they are extremely talented. And based on that link of Jason Momoa that jobo gave us it’s going to be fine. It’s really hard to tell until it’s all put together after editing.

  • serg

    Thank you!
    UUUhhh
    p.s. so what about SCI?

  • jobo

    Yo!!! got one more vid with Momoa sword fighting.He is actually good,great agility…I liked it.

  • Ray

    I’m unfamiliar with SCI unless you mean CGI. If you’re wanting to know if there will be any CGI effects in the movie, I honestly can’t tell you if there will or won’t be….sorry.

  • Steve Dilks

    Fight scenes never look good when worked out at the last minute between the stuntmen!The director has no idea what he’s filming!It has too be storyboarded and worked out.The director tells what he wants because HE is supposed to have thing envisioned.Best sword fight of all time? The cliff top face off in “The princess bride”.Hilariously imaginitive.Momoa’s antics in Stargate with that little letter opener from miladys boudoir didn’t impress me.Hell’s teeth, Conan fights with a broadsword,not with a tooth pick.Bet I could whoop Momoa’s ass with a wooden sword.Well,no one could beat me when I was a kid anyway…I’m taking a bet that we’ll be seeing a fair bit of CGI in this movie. After all wasn’t there talk of it going 3D? When fight scenes don’t look good is when

  • Ray

    I don’t want to give the impression that all the fight scenes were made up at the last minute. Many, if not all of the main fight scenes are storyboarded and were preconceived. They just didn’t seem to be as rehearsed as much as I thought they should have been with the main actors…and many of the background fights were made up right before the scene was shot or was based on a previous choreographed fight scene from another movie. Like I said, thank God for talented stuntman who have the experience and talent to pull off these fight scenes like they did.

  • serg

    @steven Dilks
    Hey,mr.Unbeatable,why arent you playing Conan?It seems to me that you are a perfect choice,’cause nobody beat in the childhood!!! HAHAHA!!!that just silly ,man-to pull such stupidness in the international blog about yourself-SHAME on you— Conan can fight any sword if you please…listen Im not gonna justify this to you-suggest to leave(or fuck off)
    You truly fan of…Arnie ,I think….but not Conan!!!
    I wanna get INFORMATION over here as many other people-not the crap some moron is pulling!!!
    It was great luck that we got somebody from the very Movie,be greatful!!!
    I beg all true fans of CONAN( real CONAN from CIMMERIA by R.E.Howard)
    Lets share information we’re digging all together and our passion for Conan instead of proving how smart somebody is!!!
    Thank you

  • Pelias

    Agreed.Just some stupid kid I guess,who’ve read only comics!

  • m

    Take it easy boys, lets not make this a pissing contest! @Ray: you’re a brave man, this is a tough crowd , I give you a lot of credit for coming on here , where fans are abit miffed. @seg and pelias: Cool down boys, this is the problem with howard fans , we can’t freaking agree on anything.NO need to start insulting each other , believe me it does you no credit. go back and reread some of steve’s posts. he knows his stuff,has read howards conan as well as others and frankly, I repeat no one here needs to justify their opinions to you or anyone else.I happen to be a grown man, a father of two with a full time jobI dont need to lie about that because its really no big deal and i couldnt care if i was believed or not.IT IS WHAT IT IS. and it is a pleasure to come here , like going to my favorite local bar and meeting up with buddies. sounds weird but thats how i feel. I don’t care if you guys ( and girls) live in your parents basement, or are out and on your own, I respect all of you and what you have to say.We are all fans of howards conan, and whatever other version that is found acceptable.I check out the blog , think about what is said have a beer andpost. aside from rays posts none of us has had any new news lately and I’m sure we’re all getting antsy. We’ll all get info as it comes , just be patient.Ray has done us a huge solid by giving us his time .I’d hate to see this blog descend into the kind of crap that exists out there on the web,REAL CONAN FANS ARE BETTER THAN THAT!

  • m

    @serg and pelias:I’m sure you guys already know this ,but just in case you don’t, you can get great howard info on thecimmerian.com. there have been a number of good articles on the conan movie the last few months.

  • http://www.ageofconan.com Waldgeist

    @m
    Well said :D I was away for the weekend on the Roleplaying Convention in Cologne Germany, to present Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer to the German press, so I could not jump in and moderate a bit.

    Keep it civil guys. There is always room for disagreement, no need to get personal. Sometimes people just have to agree to disagree.

  • m

    Thanks, geist! I have learned that I like conan fans moreso than say star wars( but i’m not a huge fan of the movies) or other famous franchise , there isnt that snobbishness i despise.Growing up , out the group of buds i hung around only one of them , who i still talk to occasionally , shared my enthusiasm for conan and lovecraft and howard. enough of that, I don’t play those online games too much, I barely have enough time to screw around with ps3, but let me ask you as a conan fan, what do you think of those age of conan games?

  • serg

    Got ya,m.but he was so impossable on that post on that post.Fine Im wrapping my anger

  • m

    Believe me brother, your passion is appreciated.Remember this : we all want the movie to succeed,I personally promised to eat my feet ( and steve even offered to eat his loincloth!) if the movie wins everyone over.

  • serg

    M,can you give the link about the movie on the cimmerian.com
    Im lost ou there

  • http://www.ageofconan.com Waldgeist

    @m Well i certainly love the MMORPG Age of Conan. But i am paid to to love it, so this doesn’t really count. It is quite true to Howards vision in most places and our story writers really try their best to stay true to Howard with anything new that comes into the game.

    The other Conan games are … not worth the while i think. They are lackluster attempts to cash in on Arnolds Conan and that’s about it.

  • http://www.thecimmerian.com Taranaich

    Sorry to come late to the party!

    MacSween, there is no “canon date” for the Hyborian Age: Howard never wrote it down. The oft-mentioned 10,000 BC date is likely to be a De Camp invention. It’s serviceable enough, but really, it could be anywhere between 90-10,000 B.C. The age of King Kull was 100,000 BC according to Howard, in a list of dates he wrote for his main characters (this was before he created Conan): placing Conan 10,000 BC would thus leave an enormous gap between the two. It’s still a matter of debate.

    However, it is entirely clear that it takes place before the beginnings of recorded history, certainly not 3,000 BC.

    Howard’s “Aryas” is clearly meant to be a reference to the Indo-Europeans, which was synonymous with the term Aryan. Presumably this “Aryas” is a semi-mythical founder, perhaps a great chieftain, after whom the Aryans named themselves.

  • Cthulhu

    I am really pleased that the producers are taking a completely different direction than the Arnold films. I found the Milius film to be brilliant in the set, prop and music departments but overall it was a pretty poor interpretation of Howard’s Conan. (I’ve been a huge fan of the Conan books since the mid 70s and was really looking forward to the Arnold film) Let’s face it, Arnold was pretty far from the mark when one reads Howard’s stories (or even the Marvel comics)and Milius couldn’t even get a straight forward story like De Camp/Carter’s Thing in the Crypt right. It had a great build up but fell as flat as the Atlantian corpse. And I’m sure they could have found money in the buget for a bottle of black hair dye. Conan the Barbarian is a good fantasy film, just not a good Conan film. So hats off to the producers of this Conan for taking things in a new and hopefully more faithful direction.

    I’m looking forward to this new production (which is not a remake) but I can’t understand why film makers feel the need to give the main character a back story. Howard didn’t need one, Conan walked full grown into his imagination. Background? he was born on a battle field, that simple and it’s been enough for over 70 years worth of Conan readers. Indiana Jones didn’t need a back story until the third film, and James Bond? who really cares about the master spy’s childhood? Many literature/film characters have managed to tell great stories without a back story. I would prefer if the Conan film just opened in the middle of a huge battle with Conan swinging a axe standing upon a heap of corpses, but that’s just my personal taste. There are so many great Howard stories that could have been used as source material; Queen of the Black Coast, Black Colossus, or Red Nails… a Witch Shall Be Born is absolutely screaming to be adapted to film.

    I’ll just say once again that I’m really pleased that the producers are taking Conan in a different direction than the Arnold films and that is very evident with the casting of Momoa, I wasn’t certain at first but the more photos I see the more convinced I am that they have the right man for the part. I’m taking a wait and see stance on this film, I just hope they stay true to the spirit of Robert E. Howard’s works.

    And by the way, the Hyborian Age is a fictional time period set up as a background for Conan to have adventures in, nothing more, nothing less.

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