Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t done playing Conan the Barbarian.
After breaking the news himself in an appearance at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, this past weekend, Deadline has confirmed that 20th Century Studios is developing a new Conan the Barbarian movie, which Schwarzenegger refers to as King Conan.
Christopher McQuarrie is attached to write and direct the action movie. He is best known for his work on the last four Mission: Impossible movies as well as the first Jack Reacher.
At the Arnold Sports Festival, Schwarzenegger called McQuarrie “a fantastic writer/director.” The actor also teased what fans can expect from the long-gestating threequel:
“With King Conan, it’s a great old story that Conan was forty years as King, and now he gets forced out of the kingdom, and there’s conflict, of course, but somehow he comes back, and there’s all kinds of madness, violence, magic, and creatures and stuff like that.”
Schwarzenegger originally played Conan in two ’80s movies — 1982’s Conan the Barbarian and 1984’s Conan the Destroyer. A third movie had been planned but was shelved due to scheduling conflicts and Schwarzenegger’s contract expiring. It would have been titled Conan the Conqueror and was eyeing a 1987 release.
Universal tried making a third Conan movie 25 years later with The Legend of Conan. Chris Morgan, who was at one point attached to the project, described the sequel in 2019 as “Unforgiven with Conan.”
The Legend of Conan and King Conan are one and the same, with the latter title simply being what Schwarzenegger likes referring to the project as. Those who closely follow the actor will know that he’s been wanting to make King Conan for years, and now it looks like he’ll finally have the chance.
Schwarzenegger also hinted at the festival that 20th Century Studios wanted him to headline a sequel to Commando and a new Predator movie, but nothing concrete on those claims just yet. We’ll keep you posted.
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