When the resurrection of “King Conan” (formerly at Universal Pictures as “Legend of Conan” in the 2010s before the TV/film rights lingered at Netflix) was announced back in March, we learned that the sword and sorcery legacy sequel would see former franchise star Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising his cimmerian warrior (now a king) with Christopher McQuarrie behind the script and 20th Century Studios/Disney backing the new film. There is a positive update from the former California governor.
Fan outlet TheArnoldFans has some neat new quotes from Schwarzenegger and Conan Properties International‘s Fredrik Malmberg, who confirm that McQuarrie is indeed directing the big-budget studio action flick, and there are plans to start production in 2027 (a specific date isn’t mentioned).
“I can confirm we have a deal between CPI, Arnold, and [20th Century Studios],” Malmberg said. With Schwarzenegger also confirming that the pic is heading into production in 2027, “Next year we are going to do ‘King Conan.’ So that is a reality now, and I am excited about it.”
READ MORE: 53 Must-See Films To Watch Summer 2026
“The movie wouldn’t have worked after I did the first Conan because the whole idea of King Conan is that for 40 years he has been king, he is older now. He is no longer in the shape he was from his heyday, and now people are trying to take him out. He’s the king, and he gets a little bit complacent. He’s tired of the job, and he wants to move on. Look at the movie by Clint Eastwood, [‘Unforgiven’]. It will be a lot like that, but it will be with extraordinary battles.”
We don’t know if they’ll be going the R-rated route or a more box office-friendly PG-13, but having McQuarrie on board should help regardless. A story direction for “King Conan” is also a bit of an unknown factor here. However, in the comic book adaptations, he has a son named Prince Conn with Queen Zenobia (could easily be new characters introduced), and some of his unadapted adventures saw Conan swashbuckling alongside Bêlit, the pirate Queen of the Black Coast (another rich character that may potentially be worthy of her own spinoff). There is an expectation that the “Conan of Aquilonia” short stories from L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter in the 1970s about Conan later in life, could be the main inspiration here.
Released back in 1982, the original “Conan the Barbarian” was a collaboration between director John Milius and co-writer Oliver Stone as they took the popular genre character from Texas author Robert E. Howard novels and Marvel Comics run, hoping to turn the franchise into a “fantasy version of James Bond” (the plan was to release sequels regularly). It would be the first real step in Schwarzenegger’s domination in the genre film space before “Terminator,” “Predator,” “Total Recall,” and “T2: Judgement Day” cemented his action star status.
The ambition after the first film’s success seemingly stretched them thin after Schwarzenegger returned for the sub-par sequel “Conan the Destroyer” (mind you, Grace Jones and Tracey Walter were fun additions), and the adjacent spinoff “Red Sonja” (Arnold playing an entirely different supporting character, which likely confused fans), leading to the budding franchise crumbling under its own weight after audience interest fizzled out. Early in his leading man career, before “Game of Thrones,” Jason Momoa had toplined a failed “Conan” reboot attempt.
We’re cautiously optimistic about “King Conan” finally getting in front of cameras, and if it ultimately comes together next year, a release date in 2028-2029 isn’t hard to imagine. Stay tuned as the next big step will be securing a new cast. Another project in the works for McQuarrie is a “Battlefield” movie with recent Oscar-winner Michael B. Jordan attached in the lead role; a bidding war is currently underway with that one.
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
