There’s really no property that can’t be recycled in Hollywood-- even the cheesiest, most dated movie or franchise can be reinvented with the proper amount of CGI and marketing power. And that’s how we will probably get a retread of Conan the Barbarian, the 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie that spawned the sequel Conan the Destroyer. And according to Ain’t It Cool, this might all happen at the hands of another relic from an earlier day, John McTiernan.

Who, you ask? This is man who brought us Die Hard, not to mention Die Hard With a Vengeance or even Hunt for Red October. True, he’s done nothing lately but make terrible movies like Basic and Rollerball, but you have to admit that American action movies would look awfully different if McTiernan hadn’t been a part of them.

AICN is also tossing out the rumor that Gerard Butler will be starring in the remake, which makes the whole venture even more promising. Remember, Gerard Butler is the man who made CGI swords and sandals a hit with 300 back in March. Granted, that was no masterpiece, but Butler probably has a good sense of what makes an action movie worth watching, and McTiernan definitely used to at least. The two of them together could have what it takes to make Conan more than just 80s, pre-Governator kitsch. Or it could be another in McTiernan’s latest string of bombs, and we’ll be pretty much where we are right now.