We haven’t heard much about ‘The Legend of Conan‘ aside from that it would take place 30 years after ‘Conan the Barbarian’ and now in an interview with The Arnold Fans, producer and co-writer Chris Morgan (‘Fast & Furious 6′,’Wanted’) and producer Fredrik Malmberg (‘Let Me In’,’Conan the Barbarian‘) are opening up on what we can expect from the film. We already know that we’ll be seeing a grizzled Arnold Schwarzenegger taking up his sword to do battle but past that, not much of the plot has been shared.
When asked if the plan was to make this a light hearted popcorn flick or something darker, Morgan’s answer should make fans quite happy:
“A light-hearted Conan?! CROM! No. Our tone is a logical extension of the character established in the ’82 film…but 30 years later. When we meet him again, Conan has been many things over the course of his life — a thief, a warrior, a pirate, a king, a legend — and is now an older man. Think Unforgiven…with a sword-wielding barbarian.”
How hard was it to try and enter the world that John Milius had created and continue on from what had already been told?
“Milius was a visionary. And a hero of mine. He established a milieu that is stunning and violent and clear — incomparable. The goal, the dream, is to live up to his world. To make it worthy. And to expand on it in a truthful way that audiences will embrace. We’re very lucky that the architects of this new film — the writer, the producers, the studio and most of all, Arnold — who is Conan — are all first-generation fans who either worked on the film or who came along for the ride, cheering from their theater seats opening night. We plan nothing more than to immerse ourselves in the world Milius envisioned from Robert E. Howard’s unforgettable stories and Frank Frazetta’s stunning artwork. I can’t give specifics (nobody likes a spoiler!), but know we are honoring the locales, the religions and the traditions of the ’82 film.”
Of course as we all want this to reflect the original films, one has to wonder how many characters could be coming back for the sequel?
“Without naming names…it’s at least three. And you’re gonna love them!”
Morgan isn’t the only one talking as Malmberg also opened up a little about what he expects from the film. First of all, on the location and the look of the film he says:
“We have been assaulted by film commissioners from all around the world who want Conan to be shot there! At the end of the day, it’s a combination of cool scenery and economics. We have visited Spain and it’s a very versatile landscape and has great crews. We also visited Colombia, and Universal has experience shooting all around the world, so rest assured it will look spectacular.”
What can we expect from this Conan that has aged 30 years since we’ve last seen him and what makes fans still love the character?
“Our marching orders from the studio were to create a film worthy as a successor to the 1982 film, which was pretty brutal. To Conan it’s not about fancy sword moves; it’s about the fastest and most effective way of disposing of your enemy. A dance of death, maybe, at least primal. In my opinion, Conan is beloved because of his political incorrectness. He doesn’t think, he just acts. People can relate to the freshness of somebody who doesn’t give a damn about civilization — in fact, despises it. At the same time he is a magnificent fighter, leader and friend.”
When asked about the script which has been turned into the studio and how he feels about the project Malmberg states:
“It is the greatest honor to be 67 years old and to still be asked to come back into all those franchises. Whether it is the Terminator movie or it is now Conan, it is fantastic! As a matter of fact, when I get back to Los Angeles, i’ll be getting the final script and then I will see it for the first time. But with Universal Pictures, I’ve tried to convince them now for 20 years to go back and continue with the Conan series and they were not as enthusiastic as I was. But then later, new management came in at Universal and they saw it entirely differently. They came to me right away and said they want to pick up the Conan series and to look at some writers and let’s get going on that. So we’ve been working on Conan and I’m really excited to be working on this – to do another Conan movie and hopefully it will be soon!”
I really hope they are able to pull this one off as the fans of the ‘Terminator’ franchise have mostly been less than enthusiastic for what ‘Terminator Genisys‘ has shown us so far. Hopefully that won’t cause problems for revisiting Conan before the project even gets off the ground.
You can read the full interview over at TheArnoldFans.com.
How do you feel about Morgan’s and Malmberg’s vision for the next installment of ‘Conan’? Are you excited that the franchise is set to return? Share your thoughts below!
