More hints on Conan II
In September, Robert E. Howard Forum moderator Crossplains Pilgrim wrote an overview of the script for Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain’s proposed sequel to the upcoming Conan film. After the REH Forum’s mass migration to green pastures on a new server, he reiterated some of his points for newcomers, as well as dropping a few more hints.
Some of the guys reading this thread may not have the time to wander back for my previous comments. So here are a few updated words of praise totally unsolicited by you or your partner. I greatly admire your script and would be thrilled if Millenium has the good sense to go with it.
First your choice of stories was excellent. It’s one of Howard’s most well regarded yarns that provides more meat for a film adaptation than some others. What I like best about the Blackman/McCain script (and what I have seen is a very early draft) is the genuine REH feel to it. This script is not a dumbed-down revenge tale designed for an wide audience illiterate of the sword and sorcery genre, although I do think your script has wide audience appeal. But IMO, this script is full frontal REH.
The villains act like Howard villains. This particular story showcases one of Howard’s all-time great heavies. That would make sense as almost all the characters in the script were created not by Blackman and McCain, but by Howard. It’s clear you guys are Howard fans, not a couple of hacks trying to bring him up-to-date for the video arcade crowd (not that such an approach is entirely wrong). The script I have seen is laced with references to other Howard stories. You have obviously read his stuff extensively. Not to sound like a studio flak, but this script pounds with action, sorcery and yes, some fine old pulp-fiction sex. The horse chase scene blew me away. I would kill to see that in 3-D. This is sword and sorcery translated to the screen without a PG-13 filter. And, of course, it would be the first Conan film actually based on a single Robert E. Howard story.
You’ve made some changes. This is a story that has to succeed as a film in 2013, not a pulp magazine yarn for 1932. Most of the alterations simply expand the plot a little to allow more action and conflict, but without changing Howard’s original story so much that it is unrecognizable. Actually, considering the way Conan has been treated on screen to date, I was surprised at how close you kept to the original tale. This story begins exactly the way Howard wrote it and ends the same way. I think that considering the demands of pleasing a wide and mostly young audience, you did an admirable job of remaining faithful to Howard’s original vision.
Now, so that you have context with what I say next: I have read the script.
I agree with some of the things Crossplains Pilgrim says (I feel Conan’s done right, the villain is one of the best, it’s recognizable) while I disagree with others (I’m ambivalent about the choice of story, I don’t think it really starts or ends like Howard’s original, and some of the changes rub me up entirely the wrong way). That said, this could be due to differences in the drafts we read: I’ll have to get in contact with him about it.
I’ve been in touch with Mr Blackman in regards to the script, and I’m trying to work out a way to tell you everything I can about it without… well, telling you everything I can about it. For now, I think I can say a few things which hopefully won’t give the identity of the story away:
- It is, recognizably and unquestionably, a direct adaptation of a Robert E. Howard story
- It features nearly all the characters, places and plot elements in the original story, and only introduces two new characters and comparable amount of new scenes
- Some elements of the plot, characters and background are greatly streamlined and simplified, while others are expanded and enriched
- There are three major aspects of the script that I strongly dislike, as well as a dozen or so smaller things that are essentially minor grievances
- I didn’t feel the need to get up and burn off steam with an angry walk every few pages like I did for the first drafts for Solomon Kane, King Conan: Crown of Iron or the upcoming film
A more detailed appraisal will likely be coming in the next few weeks. In short: I didn’t hate it, and while I had some big problems with it, less discerning – or perhaps just more realistic? – Conan and Howard fans would probably love it.
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