It’s been a couple of months since there was any news on the upcoming Conan movie; a film that will be a reboot of the Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator) movies, that is supposedly much more faithful to Robert E. Howard’s (the author who created the legendary barbarian) original vision of the character; but now that principal photography has finished in Bulgaria’s NU Boyana Studios, the first official picture of the man himself has been released.
Jason Momoa (who’s best known for playing the short-spoken, aggressive, towering barbarian, Ronon Dex on TV’s Stargate Atalntis) has taken over the role that once belonged to Schwarzenegger, and appears to fit every criteria for playing Howard’s Conan; Howard envisioned “a tall strongly made youth” with “broad heavy shoulders and a powerful frame”, as well as “brown skin” from “outland suns”, and “a shock of tousled black hair”, and as the 6’4” Momoa has packed on a good deal more muscle than he was sporting for Atlantis, has always had very tanned skin (which comes of the Hawaiian sun), and long, wavy, brown hair, he fits the bill perfectly (having abandoned his trademark dreadlocks a couple of years back, and even shaved his beard).
The film has been written by Josh Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly (the pair who wrote Sahara, and are working on adapting the video-game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune), with the final touches added by Halloween: Resurrection’s Sean Hood. The director’s chair was filled by by Marcus Nispel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 2003), and joining Momoa in front of the camera was Ron Pearlman (Hellboy) (after Mickey Rourke dropped out), Rachel Nichols (Star Trek), Rose McGowan (Charmed), and Stephen Lang (Avatar).
The film’s due out sometime next year, and while there’s no official date as yet, and little else leaked aside from some casting details and the recently released picture of Jason Momoa in the role (which can be seen above), it’d be wise to assume that there will be some more news coming by way of Comic-Con; which is being held in the San Diego Convention Center from the 22-25 of July (next month).
