It seems impossible that the Conan the Barbarian franchise will transcend its cheesy 80s roots, but Lionsgate is willing to give it a shot anyway. They've assigned two screenwriters to the reboot, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, it's "a fast-tracked movie." Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain, the new screenwriters, are also working on the screenplay Amazon, about the mythical race of warrior women. I see a lot of loincloths in their future.
Fredrik Maimberg, president of Paradox Entertainment, which is producing the movie for Lionsgate, seems to have some unreasonably high hopes for his potential new franchise. "There's no reason there couldn't be a Conan movie every two years. He's almost like Batman: He's a dark hero. He's a hard hero. He has to be badass, but we also have to like him." OK, I'll leave the Batman comparison alone for now-- who knows that they've got planned for Conan these days-- but guys, we don't even need a Batman movie every two years. It's hard to imagine any franchise, and particularly a Conan franchise, being that everpresent and successful. But hey, maybe I'm just underestimating national interest in swordfights.
