Millennium wins rights to 'Conan'

[Whiskey Tango]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117970116.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

In a seven-figure deal, Millennium Films has acquired the rights to make a new series of pics based on Robert E. Howard's mythical conqueror Conan the Barbarian.

Paradox Entertainment prexy-CEO Fredrik Malmberg chose Millennium after extricating the rights from Warner Bros. last spring and putting them on the market with strict progress-to-production provisions in mid-June.

Malmberg will produce with Millennium's Avi Lerner, Boaz Davidson, Joe Gatta and George Furla. Millennium either will fully finance or partner with a distributor, with discussions to begin this week.

Company's aim is to start production by next spring.

Malmberg declined to renew another option with Warners when the rights lapsed in spring. He was frustrated that seven years' worth of development at WB had not yielded a production start on the franchise that launched the film career of Arnold Schwarzenegger in its first bigscreen go-round.

The recent summer success of branded properties like "Spider-Man," "The Simpsons" and "Transformers" led to a receptive marketplace for Conan. The property already is a globally established brand that has 40 licenses including a top-selling Dark Horse comicbook, an upcoming vidgame for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and the Funcom/Eidos massively multiplayer online role-playing game "Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures."

When CAA brought the package to the marketplace, at least four suitors were interested, including Millennium and "300" producer Gianni Nunnari's Hollywood Gang. New Line emerged with exclusive negotiating rights (Daily Variety, June 28) but could not make a deal. Buyers at the time were caught short by Malmberg's deal terms: He was asking $1 million for one-year option, with another $1 million for each year's renewal.

Millennium wouldn't reveal what it paid, but the producer-financier had an advantage in Gatta: The former Gersh agent brokered the original Conan deal with WB in 2002, and he knew the property and Malmberg well.

"While it's a rich deal for us, we believe in the brand and that this will lead to multiple pictures," Gatta said.

Millennium is in production on the Al Pacino-Robert De Niro starrer "Righteous Kill" and the Sylvester Stallone starrer "John Rambo," but the Conan pic will be the most ambitious project it has mounted.

Putting together a big-scale project from scratch on such a tight timetable won't be easy. WB invested seven years of sweat, with top-shelf names like Larry and Andy Wachowski, John Milius (who directed the original from a script he co-wrote with Oliver Stone) and Robert Rodriguez all writing drafts. Boaz Yakin penned the last one.

Malmberg and Millennium will start over, since WB owns those other scripts and execs there weren't happy that Malmberg took Conan elsewhere. The new version will be more faithful to Howard's original creation than were the Schwarzenegger films.

 

[xwolverine2]

im not sure i care to see a conan movie without arnold.....


he's what got me to glimpse at it.

 

[BloodyWolverine]

Realistically there is only so many actors that could play a Conan unless the do a restart and find new guy. I will get laughs but i think The Rock is the only one built for a Conan role. I know he is not quite like Conan but he has a fit body for it and some carisma but they would have to digitally have to remove the tatoos.

 

[xwolverine2]

didnt he already play scorpion king?

 

[bunk]

Crom!!!

 

[BloodyWolverine]

didnt he already play scorpion king?

Yes and my meaning was he could fit into that type of Character good. But i can't think anyone else Other then some wrestler unless its a foreign guy like arnold.
There is always Gerard Butler but he's too small.

There are only two werstlers big enough but they can't act. Hate to say Rock is miles above them.
Batista and John Cena.
Vin Diesal maybe but i see him as a Terminator replacement more the Conan.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

I wouldn't complain if they got Rock for this, there are far worse choices. With FX what they are today these could be really cool movies.

My only real regret is that King Conan with Arnie probably won't ever happen now. The again, I might be the only person interested in that.

 

[Warhammer]

...and Conan, once again, goes down the drain, or enters development hell.

 

[Joker]

If we're talking wrestlers, Triple H has the right look for Conan, but I dont know if he's got the acting ability to do it (he was decent in Blade Trinity, but essentially playing the same character as his on screen persona in the WWE...an a**hole )

 

[Joker]

I wouldn't complain if they got Rock for this, there are far worse choices. With FX what they are today these could be really cool movies.

My only real regret is that King Conan with Arnie probably won't ever happen now. The again, I might be the only person interested in that.

If you seriously thought that movie had any hopes of getting made, no matter who made it, you were crazy to begin with. He's the governer, he's incredibly out of shape, and is pretty much retired from acting...it was never, ever going to happen at this point.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

I had a *tiny* bit of hope...

 

[dpm07]

Dwayne Johnson basically played Conan in The Scorpion King. His character was very Conanesque.

I'd love to see Dwayne Johnson actually play Conan in a film. He'd definitely do the role justice.

 

[Darth Rockwell]

I just want a new Conan movie.

 

[superkong 500]

There's other guys that can play conan as well as arnie did. I just wish they incorporate much more of howard's stories into the film and maybe a bit more magical/fantasy elements into it. There's so many good stories to make a great trilogy and introduce creatures like the albino giants and much more. With today's technology there are endless possibilities. Plus I want to see thoth amon brought to live the right way and not the way they did it in CTD.
That was awful.

 

[BloodyWolverine]

Is the guy who played Conan in the tv series too old to Play Conan. I just wondered. There is always the guy who Plays Sabertooth in X-Men.

 

[tecnowraith]

How about Karl Urban? He's done several fantasy and sword movies and tv. Xena, Lord of the Rings and Pathfinder. He is lean not too muscular just like Conan is described.

 

[Warhammer]

Dwayne Johnson basically played Conan in The Scorpion King. His character was very Conanesque.

I'd love to see Dwayne Johnson actually play Conan in a film. He'd definitely do the role justice.

I highly doubt that The Rock will resort himself to those types of films anymore. I like the fact that he is essentially "maturing" as an actor (save for the new football comedy, which may be good, hopefully).

How about Karl Urban? He's done several fantasy and sword movies and tv. Xena, Lord of the Rings and Pathfinder. He is lean not too muscular just like Conan is described.

If Karl Urban became Conan, and if the film bombed, his career would be over.

 

[dpm07]

How about Karl Urban? He's done several fantasy and sword movies and tv. Xena, Lord of the Rings and Pathfinder. He is lean not too muscular just like Conan is described.

I'd rather see Karl Urban as Thor.

 

[Warhammer]

Same here, but a suggestion of Brad Pitt as Thor will tweaked my interest.
The way Brad looks now, it'd definitely work.

 

[Mr. Socko]

Hunter Hearst Helmsley

 

[Warhammer]

Not a bad casting choice at all.

People who say that he can't act is wrong, because his job is essentially acting. However, the question is not only how well he can act, but if his name attached to the film will make Thor be taken seriously, or potentially hurt the film. Physically, Trips has it in the bag, because we can't be having a skinny guy playing Thor without CGI (I don't care what you say, Thor needs to be jacked, one way or the other).

 

[BloodyWolverine]

I think the guy who played sabertooth in X-Men would be a great Thor or Conan.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Triple H alone won't sell tickets to the non-WWE market, but they could always get an A-list actor to play the villain.

 

[Mr. Socko]

I think the guy who played sabertooth in X-Men would be a great Thor or Conan.

Tyler Mane is very much like Kevin Nash(or even Shaq for that matter). Extremely big because he's so tall, but he doesn't really have all muscle definition.

Triple H alone won't sell tickets to the non-WWE market, but they could always get an A-list actor to play the villain.

That would be a good idea.

 

[BloodyWolverine]

Whos the Villain for Thor anyways and in Conan i forget.