Universal Reboots Conan with Schwarzzenegger — what are the implications for John Carter?

Michael Sellers Other Stuff

According to Deadline Hollywood who usually gets these things right, Universal has made a deal for The Legend of Conan starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Robert E. Howard mythic barbarian hero.  This comes on the heels of Lionsgate’s 2011 Conan the Barbarian doing a paltry $48M Globally (21M Domestic). . . . . . .so what could this possibly mean for John Carter at $282m Globally, $73M domestic?  Probably nothing, as far as Disney is concerned.   But there are other studios out there and the world keeps on turnin’………..

No offense to Arnold,but he doesn’t quite like he did in 1982 . . . . . . . presumably there will be some CG magic a la 300 and Beowulf to turn back the clock . . . .

Thanks to MCR for the tip on this one.

5 comments

  • I haven’t seen the new one, but I thought Jason came closer to my image of the cracker from Cimmeria. I guess it must have been even cheesier than Destroyer (which is still great fun). Still, Arnold will pull the masses in on pure nostalgia alone….plus he’s the right age to play the King of Aquilonia.

    PS: HAZL 9000’s plot rules!

  • Coooool! Been waiting for this one since I was a kid. That teaser shot of him as a king at the end of “Destroyer” has kept me hoping for years. Methinks a sword-wielding Arnold could still wreak some good old-fashioned havoc. Will keep an eye on this project.

    And getting a reboot soon after a box office bomb is a very good sign for John Carter’s prospects…

  • I’m very skeptical. It’s an accountant move before being an artistic decision, they don’t even have a finished screenplay yet. One thing is sure, they won’t need Robert E. Howard for this one, Conan is describes as a ageing viking willing to have one last fight before going to Valhalla. Not sure even the lousiest Tarzan strayed this far from the source in intent.

    I’m not sure it is relevant to the John Carter case, since it will be perceived as a Schwarzenegger vehicle, success or failure, before being seen as a “pulp” inspired movie. I guess we’ll see how it will turn out.

  • They have got to be kidding about this. The super villain will turn out to be Conan’s unacknowledged son who’s backed up by a spurned wife and the mistress/maid.

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