SOURCEIts official. Momoa is the new Conan!
Last week Michael Fleming on Deadline Hollywood reported that Jason Momoa and Kellan Lutz along with a third more well known name were contenders to topline CONAN for Lionsgate.
Who was the 3rd well known name which Michael Fleming didnt mention?
It was Supernaturals JARED PADALECKI.
Padalecki worked with Marcus Nispel recently on the Friday the 13th reboot.
Prior to Padalecki auditioning, Momoa, Lutz, and another unknown actor named John Brotherton went through a series of rigorous screen tests.
From those original three, it was Momoa who emerged early on as Marcus Nispels top choice with Kellan Lutz a distant second.
The folks at Lionsgate wanted to be extra sure, hence why they held off offering the part to Momoa and auditioning Jared Padalecki which took place this week.
What was the game changer?
Why the change of heart for the studio?
Momoa came into Lionsgate late last week after the Fleming story broke and met with everyone at the studio and charmed the pants off the executives.
Apparently, Momoa is good in the room.
Momoa also screen tested yet again this week.
So there you have it folks, Jason Momoa is your new Conan.
Momoa has starred in Stargate Atlantis, Baywatch Hawaii, and a couple of episodes of CWs The Game.
With less than eight weeks to go before production starts, Momoa starts training rigorously for the part on Monday.
In other Conan news, after an early draft the script leaked online last year, Andrew Lobel as recently as December did revisions on the script originally penned by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer. From what I was told, Lobel knocked the rewrite out of the park.
Formal announcements in the trades should be imminent
But that's not all.
*UPDATE*
I just found out that the offer has gone out to Mickey Rourke to play Conan's dad, CORIN!
Stay tuned as more develops.
Hasta el proximo capitulo
The geeks on AICN are already lambasting it. "Conan is white! **** this affirmative action choice!"![]()
Well, this is what separates the Arnold Conan fans from the literary Conan fans. Cimmerians had a certain bronzed look described to them, this guy looks natural as opposed to guy with a deep tan.
I just hope the guy doesn't have dreads playing Conan.
I think I read somewhere (TV Guide maybe?) that he actually had real dreadlocks at one point, but he shaved them off because they were causing him problems. Afterwords, I think he started wearing a wig to maintain the dreadlock look on Star Gate Atlantis.
So, if that is true and I'm not thinking of somebody else, then the only way he'd have dreads as Conan would be if the people doing Conan gave him some. Or he grew them back between when he cut them off and now, but if they were causing him problems I don't think he'd be growing them back.
I think I read somewhere (TV Guide maybe?) that he actually had real dreadlocks at one point, but he shaved them off because they were causing him problems. Afterwords, I think he started wearing a wig to maintain the dreadlock look on Star Gate Atlantis.
So, if that is true and I'm not thinking of somebody else, then the only way he'd have dreads as Conan would be if the people doing Conan gave him some. Or he grew them back between when he cut them off and now, but if they were causing him problems I don't think he'd be growing them back.
He has the right Face and the right Voice and the right height,all he needs is a few steroids and hes a Perfect Cast.
Not a bad choice...........he looks the part.......hopefully he has the skill to pull off Conan.
However the story details still turn me off. We don't need to meet Conan's dad, be treated to an origin, or have Conan on an avenging crusade. Bring on an adult Conan with his birth on the battle field, and his birth to battle at the sack of Vanerium, being a briefly mentioned as back ground.