In somewhat surprising news, we’ve found someone else has thrown their sweet hat into the arena to come up with a sequel for the upcoming Conan – Jason Momoa himself. In an interview with CraveOnline.com, Jason revealed that he’s come up with his own script for the sequel:

Conan himself has big plans for the next Conan movie, and he’s writing the script to prove it.

We’ve got some great interviews with the cast and crew of Conan the Barbarian coming up for you in the next week or so, but we couldn’t wait to drop this little bit of news from Conan himself, Jason Momoa, who says he’s writing a script for the sequel, provided of course that audiences come out for the first one. Time will tell if Momoa’s story or script are actually utilized for Conan 2 - whatever it may be called – but until then he dropped some hints of what’s coming next if he has his way.

Believe me, I have a lot to say about this, which I’ll add later. For the interview, the show must click on.

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You thought you were rid of that beardy Scotsman? Well, he was sighted at Glasgow Central Station, where he managed to persuade his assistant to take a quick snap with her camera phone. Now we can really tell the advertising’s in full swing.

Onwards for more news!

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A couple of neat new snippets for your perusal today, the most interesting being a brand new image of Jason as Conan, as well as a new poster!

First, though, a Vanity Fair interview (via Limelife, since I can’t seem to find it on Vanity Fair’s own bloody website) as the reporter seems utterly smitten with Jason. Interesting note: Jason had hair extensions for Conan. But… his own hair was a pretty decent length. Why extensions? Weird.

The eclectically named Gordon and the Whale also have an interview, this time with Jason and Rachel Nichols, but you’ll have to click on to read more!

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One of the pressing concerns about the upcoming Conan the Barbarian film was the score.  How can you follow up on what’s considered one of the greatest fantasy film scores ever committed to film? Obviously there was little hope Bates’ score would match up to Basil Poledouris’ opus, but now we can hear a taster of his compositions for the new film at Amazon.com, so we can at least compare parts of it.

	1. Prologue	Tyler Bates	2:08	Not Available
	2. His Name Is Conan	Tyler Bates	3:35	Not Available
	3. Egg Race	Tyler Bates	2:52	Not Available
	4. Fire And Ice	Tyler Bates	3:15	Not Available
	5. Cimmerian Battle	Tyler Bates	3:19	Not Available
	6. The Mill	Tyler Bates	1:55	Not Available
	7. The Mask/12 Years Later	Tyler Bates	3:06	Not Available
	8. Freeing Slaves	Tyler Bates	2:38	Not Available
	9. Prison Interrogation	Tyler Bates	3:35	Not Available
	10. Monastery Approach	Tyler Bates	1:44	Not Available
	11. Off With Their Heads	Tyler Bates	1:09	Not Available
	12. Horse Chase	Tyler Bates	3:11	Not Available
	13. Death Of A Priest	Tyler Bates	2:48	Not Available
	14. One Way Ride	Tyler Bates	2:35	Not Available
	15. Outpost	Tyler Bates	7:57	Not Available
	16. Fever	Tyler Bates	4:47	Not Available
	17. Victory	Tyler Bates	0:36	Not Available
	18. A Kiss	Tyler Bates	2:41	Not Available
	19. The Temple	Tyler Bates	1:55	Not Available
	20. Oceans Of Blood	Tyler Bates	2:41	Not Available
	21. The Dweller	Tyler Bates	2:36	Not Available
	22. Skull Mountain	Tyler Bates	1:21	Not Available
	23. Wheel Of Torture	Tyler Bates	2:07	Not Available
	24. Zym’s Demise	Tyler Bates	2:30	Not Available
	25. Conan Returns Home	Tyler Bates	3:42	Not Available

There you go.

I won’t offer my impressions just yet, but I will say it’s certainly different from Poledouris’ score, and that it’s certainly a Tyler Bates score. And I’ll leave it at that.

Our first is an interview with Jason Momoa, both in video and text form. I’ll provide the video below, and the text in the rest of the article after the click.

SAN DIEGO – I really tried to get Jason Momoa to talk about his new role as the iconic fantasy hero “Conan the Barbarian.” I really did. However, after the euphoric reaction Momoa and his former cast members of “Game of Thrones” had received the day before our interview at the series Comic-Con 2011 panel, it was clear his breakout role as Khal Drogo was still on his mind.

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I’m awfully late to the party on this one, but there’s still just under a week left, so all you artists out there get your pencils, pens, paints, and graphic tablets ready for Empire’s big competition!

Hi mash-up peeps,

We’re partnered with Lionsgate to give you the chance to design an official, studio-endorsed poster for Conan. The winning entry will be picked by a member of the movie’s cast and crew – possibly even Jason Momoa himself – and displayed pride of place at next month’s Big Screen.

All you have to do is head over here for Conan assets/logo/pics, design something awesome in one-sheet format and post it here by Friday, August 5.

Feel free to make it as much (or as little) Robert Howard/Frank Frazetta inspired as you like, just make sure it’s high-res as the poster will be printed 27×40. Probably best to avoid puns this time, as much as we’d like to see ‘Conan For All Seasons’ or ‘Barbarian Of Green Gables’.

Go forth and bring it!

Oh boy. I really hope there’s some speedy artist out there who wants to give Conan the Esteban Marato, Drew Strewzan or John Alvin treatment. Maybe go with some old-school stuff in the style of Bill Gold, Frank McCarthy or Howard Terpning, or try something unusual like Saul Bass. And, of course, lest we forget Frank Frazetta did movie posters too?

There have already been some impressive pictures, which I’ve put after the break, but my money’s on this one:

Masterpiece.

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Thanks to sweetre15, Sean Hood has graciously answered questions from the users at the Robert E. Howard Forums regarding the upcoming film at his personal website. For expediency, I’ll copy it here.

The fans on the Conan.com forum asked me a number of questions about the upcoming movie Conan The Barbarian 3D. Here are my answers:

1. I know that you know the original stories and the Conan character as good as any. Which part of the script would you have loved to change but weren’t allowed/able to because whatever reason? And what would you have changed it to?

When I started the bulk of my work on the film, there were only two weeks until shooting was scheduled to begin. Sets were already built, characters were cast, stunts were choreographed, and special effects were pre-visualized. Although a lot of scene, story and character elements ultimately changed, I had to work within some very tight parameters under intense pressure to deliver pages quickly. Production rewrites are sometimes described as “changing the wheels on a moving car.”

To get an idea of what kind of Conan film I’d make if it were just me writing for myself, check out this answer/link:

What are the best Conan the Barbarian stories written by Robert E Howard and which story would be the best to adapt as a motion picture?

It’s a very lengthy piece, around 3,000 words and with 26 questions overall. The click shall set you free.

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The fallout from Comic-Con has mostly settled, but there are a few snippets left to go around.

The Sioux City Journal has an interview with Stephen Lang, where his role as Khalar Zym comes up:

LOS ANGELES — You want bad guys? Call Stephen Lang. He’s an expert.

Thanks to an unrelenting role in “Avatar,” Lang has become the go-to bad guy for directors.

“Yeah, I’ve played a few,” he says with a laugh. “But this guy isn’t necessarily one of them.” The character he’s referring to is the explorer who leads others from a ruined Earth to a prehistoric one in “Terra Nova.” “He’s a righteous guy. But he’s not necessarily a bad guy.”

But Khalar Zym, the character he plays in the new “Conan the Barbarian” film? “He’s bad. He’s death — an evil warlord. And it was fun.”

For more, click on, Macduff.

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In addition to a few reviews, I’ve found a veritable treasure trove of high resolution pictures from various websites. How in blazes did I miss these the first time around? Well, let’s make up for lost time.

First of all, wiki-cine.com has two brand new (to my knowledge) stills. The first is Rachel Nichols’ Tamara tied to the sacrificial wheel seen in the trailers and other shots, with Stephen Lang’s Khalar Zym touching her chest with the Mask of Acheron, collecting the blood flowing in rivulets from the fresh wound under her collarbone. Mola Ram could not be reached for comment.

The second shows Jason Momoa’s Conan and Nonso Anozie’s Artus at the slaver location. Conan is covered in grime and blood, while Artus appears none the worse for wear. While Artus does appear somewhat massive next to Conan here, Nonso Anozie’s only two inches taller than Jason, so I’m assuming Artus is standing on slightly higher ground in this shot: it looks like Artus is stepping down from a gangway. His massive pauldrons might also give the illusion of size. We know, however, from other shots that Conan and Artus are more or less the same size.

For more high resolution pictures, including another new one (sorry ladies, not Momoa) click on, wayward son.

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Tons of stuff today!

Movies.com hosts an interview with Rachel Nichols, where she discusses playing a strong female character, the physicality of the role of Tamara, and how huge Jason Momoa got between her first testing session and shooting:

There was nothing more exciting for Rachel Nichols than to play Tamara, Conan’s accomplice and eventual love interest, in Conan the Barbarian. She jumped at the chance to play a smart, capable woman who breaks the mold of typical fantasy heroines, a character that is not only profound and tough but if given the choice of fight or flight she would absolutely fight.

In an exclusive interview Nichols candidly spoke to us about playing a strong female role, working with co-star Jason Momoa, and her two Hollywood crushes.

Ah, but to find out what she says, good traveller, thou must clicketh the linketh!

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