The Opening Shot of THE LEGEND OF CONAN Revealed By Writer Will Beall
The Legend of Conan has been in development since 2012 with producer Chris Morgan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I thought for sure by now the movie would have been shot and released, but that's obviously not how things played out. I've heard so many great things about the story, tone, and setting, and I really hope that one day the movie actually gets made. I'm not sure why it's taking so damn long, but /Film recently caught up with co-writer Will Beall who revealed how the film would open, saying:
“It opens with this [hand on the chin]. It’s where you have to. It’s the sequel that we were promised and never got. I’m 11 when my father took me to see Conan the Barbarian which you should never take an 11-year-old kid to. It was a life changing thing. It’s an unbelievable movie. It comes back to [director John] Milius, right? There’s nobody better and it’s a real movie. It’s a truthful movie. Chris and I from the very beginning said there’s no reason to do it unless it’s a worthy sequel to Milius’s Conan and I think we’ve got that. I really do.”
If you've seen the original movie, then you know it concludes with Conan sitting on his throne with his hand on his chin. I think opening the upcoming film with the same shot is absolutely perfect.
Beall goes on to say that Legend of Conan is still in active development. He and Morgan "are continuing to hone." He then says that he thinks it's “going to be a great movie actually.”
So it has basically been confirmed that the movie will pick up right where the classic 1982 film left off with an older King Conan sitting on his throne, deep in thought, wearing the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon his brow. The movie will ignore Richard Fleischer's 1984 Conan The Destroyer and the ridiculous 2011 reboot with Jason Momoa. Morgan previously talked about Conan author Robert E. Howard and the inspiration behind their new movie, saying:
"We look at all the source material and we love things that kind of speak to that tone. We’re incredibly respectful to Howard. I’m a huge fan of the stories and books, but I’m a super-huge fan of the first movie, because that crystallised and distilled it all for me. [John] Milius just killed it. He did such a good job. And Legend Of Conan is really resonant and it really digs into the legacy of that original film. I'm already very proud of it."
Morgan also previously described his version of Conan, which is initially what got me incredibly excited for this project:
"I want the warrior whose joints have started to fuse together, who has to crack the cartilage so he can pick up a sword again. I want the guy who’s not necessarily lost a step, but there’s some rust he has to shake off. I want to embrace that. It makes it a greater hero story.
"Conan needs to be faced with challenges. The greatest challenge to him isn’t the armies that are set before him. It’s, on some level, self-doubt, a little bit of slowing down and forcing yourself to be heroic beyond what people expect of you. What I don’t want is for him to step back in and look the same. That would defeat the purpose of our story. "
It's great to know that the sequel is still alive and in development. I hope they push it into production soon. This movie needs to happen! I believe it could be one of the best things that Schwarzenegger does in his career.