Edward Douglas of ComingSoon.Net has a lengthy 8-minute interview. Discussions ofThte differences between Khal Drogo and Conan, as well as the 1982 film’s Conan and the upcoming iteration, Conan’s origins, his personality, the extent of blood & gore, Stephen Lang and Khalar Zym, the relative lack of CGI, Rose McGowan, Rachel Nichols, what he’d like first-time viewers to take from the film, the 3D, and Marvel crossovers come up:

The Movies On Demand Panel has an interview too:

Finally, Time Warner Cable has a short minute-long chat:

Youtube has three videos of Jason Momoa’s recent adventures. The first is an interview with PublimetroMEX, which has Jason talking about the film. I’d do a transcript, but I’m having a blasted difficult time hearing him through the translator talking over him. Hopefully others will have more luck.

For some more bits and pieces from Comic-Con, join us after the break!

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Conan the Barbarian’s presence at Comic-Con has been reported, but another Jason Momoa-linked project is also present. Jason was part of a panel with his fellow cast from Game of Thrones, discussing elements of the show with questions from fans. Then, this:

3:22 p.m. For Jason Momoa, Martin asks, “Who would win? Khal Drogo or Conan?” Well, if Martin didn’t ask, the fans would. Momoa responds, “Well, George, between you and me… Drogo would kick Conan’s ass.”Then Momoa yells something loud in what may or may not be Dothraki. Awesome.

Confirmed by a Youtube video:

How… dare he!

Now, as would probably be expected, the folks at the Robert E. Howard Forums are somewhat perplexed by this statement. Not because they’re scandalized that anyone would dare say their favourite fictional barbarian could totally beat up their favourite fictional barbarian (though, naturally, they maintain Conan totally could), but because it really isn’t helping the promotion of Conan the Barbarian to say that another fictional character would kick his arse. As Stephen “Crossplains Pilgrim” Seal says it:

Yea, awesome. I am sure the Nu Age/Lionsgate PR guys are thrilled. I have now counted about 50 fansites that feature the quote and the sun hasn’t even come up here in Texas. A lot of those sites lead with it. Just Google “Jason Momoa says Khal Drogo would kick Conan’s a**!” and see what pops up. That quote may now be on its way to becoming part of the fanboy culture. “Check out the Conan flick? Are you kidding? Khal Drogo would kick his a**.” And who should know better than Jason Momoa? Anyway you cut it, he trashed his own character at ComicCon where he is supposed to be selling the picture. How dumb is that? Over the years Sly Stallone has been asked many times who would win a fight between John Rambo and Rocky Balboa. He always responds it would be a draw. They are his guys and he isn’t going to boost one over the other. Momoa would have better served the film’s prospects and many a Conan fan if he had done the same.

Since I’ll likely be limiting my editorializing in terms of the film itself, I’ll take the liberty of commenting on this situation.

While I frankly don’t care who could kick whose arse – these geeky arguments are frequently entirely subject to the personal tastes of the parties involved, as I’ve discovered in my observations regarding the eternal Star Trek vs Star Wars debates – I do think it’s essential to promote your upcoming film as strongly as possible. At Comic-Con, which is probably the gathering of the sort of individuals who have lengthy and meticulously crafted arguments over which fictional character could beat which fictional character in a fight, it seems astonishingly ill-advised to me to, essentially, say that a minor character in a cable television program that you’re no longer going to be playing could “kick the ass” of a character who’s your first leading role in a major motion picture  who many people and millions of dollars are invested into starting a multi-picture franchise.

It boils down to this: Jason Momoa won’t be returning to the character of Drogo in Game of Thrones, or future series, unless Martin decides to get back into TV writing by producing a prequel series all about Drogo (which would be awesome, I must say). Drogo’s time is over. Conan’s time, on the other hand, is about to begin, and the filmmakers are looking to produce at least two sequels in the coming years. By saying Khal Drogo could beat Conan in a fight, considering both characters are barbarian warriors, you’re essentially saying that this character you used to play is better than the character you’re going to play – which isn’t exactly the sort of thing to inspire confidence.

Some may say that Jason was trying to ingratiate himself with Martin and the Westeros faithful. Fair enough – but he’s gained their appreciation already. He isn’t playing Drogo again. What would be the point in appealing to them, when you could use this as the perfect example to move any skeptical Martin fans onto Conan? For that matter, I’m sure Martin & his fans wouldn’t mind if Martin’s barbarian warrior was beaten by the archetypal, most well known, and most iconic, barbarian warrior in modern fantasy fiction. Conan is the original, the Ur example, the barbarian hero from which so many modern barbarian heroes can draw lineage. Even if you don’t necessarily agree, it just seems… well, polite.

I mean, one could commend him for speaking his mind – if he really believed Drogo could beat Conan, then why bother arguing – but from a promotional standpoint, it’s a bit of a disaster. It’s easy to say after the event what Jason should’ve said. Maybe he should’ve gone with the Stallone approach, and refused to pick a side. Maybe he should’ve said “neither, they’d go drinking and wenching at a tavern and then go out battling together.”  Regardless of what he said: Drogo dies in his story. Conan lives. Drogo’s story is over.  Conan’s is just beginning. That kind of says all that needs to be said.

EDIT: Some readers, here and elsewhere, are getting a bit bent out of shape about this – evidently my tongue-in-cheek “how dare he!” might’ve been taken at face value – so let me just be clear about how little I’m actually concerned about this.  All I was commenting (in a somewhat disproportionate extent relative to my actual interest in the discussion) on was the fact that Jason’s off-the-cuff remark wasn’t exactly helpful from a marketing standpoint for the upcoming film.  For Crom’s sake, though, he doesn’t deserve to be crucified over it. He made a light-hearted remark that was well-received by the present audience of Game of Thrones fans that had the unfortunate by-product of rubbing some people the wrong way. Let’s not make this into a thing. I’m sure the idea of enraged Conan fans starting a fuss would be just the sort of “crazy fan fight” soft journalists would love to ridicule.

On the other hand, controversy gets people talking, so who knows. Maybe this could start a whole new thing, as fans argue who would win out of the Dothraki warlord and the Cimmerian conqueror. Could be a new form of viral advertising, pitting Conan against other heroes. Just a suggestion!

I just bought a copy of Conan the Barbarian: The Classic Original Stories That Inspired The Film,  a mass-market paperback aimed to be an introduction to Robert E. Howard’s work by myself. Now, I’m not sure if it’s the exact same edition as the one that’s been reported elsewhere, or if this is a UK-only edition. Nonetheless, here we go!

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Fellow adventurers,

I wish to address you on the current state and future of the blog. Right now, the makers of Conan the Barbarian are consolidating their power, preparing for a siege upon the greater public. Their armies of marketers, advertisers and promoters are converging, ready to make their lightning assault. Already skirmishes and sorties have been fought, ground has been gained and lost, victories attained and defeats suffered. Trailers, teasers, clips, interviews, posters, tie-ins and the like have made their mark, but it is only the beginning.

The Conan Movie Blog has been something of a wild card here. While we support Conan the Barbarian’s cause in the promotion and celebration of Robert E. Howard and his most famous creation, that doesn’t mean we blindly support every decision or interpretation made by the forces of Paradox, CPI and Lionsgate. We certainly don’t follow their whim or command. If the filmmakers are the Achaeans and the skeptical public the people of Troy, then I’d like to arrogantly compare the Conan Movie Blog’s staff, forumers and commentators to Achilles’ Myrmidons: nominally on the side of the Achaeans/Filmmakers and with the same goals and objectives, but answering to no-one, and with their own stratagies and code of conduct in mind.

For the past few months, we Conan Movie Blog myrmidons have been happy to battle the Trojans, dispelling myths, correcting misinformation, criticizing poor journalism, supporting the Achaean filmmakers when we feel aid would be justified and necessary. But those who’ve read the Illiad will recall that there comes a point where Achilles retreats to his tent, unable to be coaxed out, and refusing to emerge. He refused to fight, be it for Achaean or Trojan, and just sits in his tent while the battle rages around him.

In the past few days, I received a wealth of information about the upcoming film that completely alters my perception of it. I will not say whether it is good or bad, and in fact, it doesn’t matter in this instance: what matters is that anything I say will be coloured by what I know, and knowing how to proceed with this information is presenting me with a dilemma.

Now let’s be clear, first of all: I haven’t seen the film. Now that that’s out of the way, I can confirm that I know a lot more about the film than I probably should. Little birdies are everywhere. So, I’m going to lay all my cards on the table:

• I know, with a fair level of detail, what happens in the final shooting script
• I know, with a fair level of detail, what happens in the film
• I know, with a fair level of detail, how closely the novelization and Conan: The Mask of Acheron follows both script and film

Now, the dilemma: how can I continue to report on a film the way I have, when I know what’s happening?

An example is the Stills & Analysis posts I’ve been doing. Before this week, I had access to little more information available than anyone reading the blog couldn’t access themselves. I relied on interviews, previous trailers, old scripts, and rumour to ascertain what’s happening in each 30-second TV spot, or 2 minute trailer. I was going to do this for the recent “When Blood Is Spilled” sequence: give my ideas of what was happening, what it could mean in the larger context of the story, discern whether this standard is carried through the rest of the film, or exceeded/unmatched. But now that I know, I wouldn’t be making observations or suppositions, I would be relaying facts. It just doesn’t feel right for me to do this now.

In a way, it’s a relief: I couldn’t have kept up at this level with all the new information coming out – you’ll notice I had fallen behind on the Stills & Analysis posts, and some are still unreleased – and so I will leave the analysing and supposition to the other  loyal, dedicated and passionate fans, while I sit and muse on the situation from my tent. I’ll still be reporting news and events regarding the film, but opinions, observations and analysis? Well, we’ll see – at least until the film’s released. Then Achilles will emerge, and accompany the Myrmidons to the battle onscreen.

In the mean time, I’ll release what I’ve done of the other Stills & Analysis posts, discuss the Howardian/un-Howardian elements of “When Blood Is Spilled,” and my review of Conan: The Mask of Acheron and Conan the Barbarian: The Classic Original Stories That Inspired The Film, both of which I picked up today. In the former case, I’ll be able to judge it purely on its own merits, since I know how it compares and contrasts with the film & novelization.  In the latter case, well, it’s Howard. That’s always been my strong suit on this blog.

In the wake of the recent reveal of the “Egg Race” sequence, a few new links and snippets have popped up. Plus two quirky photos of Jason’s photo call in Madrid!

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After all these TV spots, we have our first clip from the film released!

I’ll be back later with an analysis (aye, aye, you’ve heard THAT before), but suffice to say, there are things I like in this clip, and thinks I don’t like. Really like, and really don’t like.

EDIT: Before I post my opinions, I’ve composed an overview and description of what happens in the clip, which you can view by clicking onwards.

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Who would’ve thought there could be 30 stills’ worth of new information in a 30-second Facebook trailer? Or that a trailer for a 15-rated film could have an 18-rated trailer? Not me, that’s for sure.

Warning: SIGNIFICANT SPOILERS will follow, as well as veritable buckets of blood and various body parts flying about, and most horrifically of all, at least one shot of (gasp) a lady’s chest. Ach, help ma boab!

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Seemed an appropriate teaser image, methinks. Anyway, this trailer happens to show a few shots from the climax of the film, so you might want to be wary of SPOILERS.

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A bearded patron of the Greenock Waterfront Cinema is anxious to know how it all turns out…

After much ado, here’s the analysis of the UK trailer. The reason it had been taking so long as fairly simple: I couldn’t find a decent high-resolution copy of the trailer. However, as the days passed on, I figured it would be better to just use what we have, since the quality’s decent enough that we can tell what’s going on.

There’s going to come a point where these just become redundant. Until then, let’s have a dive in.

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