Arnold Schwarzenegger Confirms KING CONAN Starts Filming Next Year With Christopher McQuarrie Attached to Direct
Fans have been waiting decades to see Arnold Schwarzenegger return to the world of Conan the Barbarian, and now it finally sounds like the long-promised sequel is actually happening.
Schwarzenegger has officially confirmed that King Conan is gearing up to begin filming next year, bringing the legendary warrior back to the big screen after more than 40 years.
The project has been circling Hollywood forever, but according to Schwarzenegger, the pieces are finally coming together. He also confirmed that Christopher McQuarrie, the filmmaker behind the recent Mission: Impossible movies, is attached to direct the film.
The actor told TheArnoldFans: “Next year we are going to do King Conan. So that is a reality now and I am excited about it.”
That puts production on track for 2027, with a likely theatrical release sometime in 2028 if everything stays on schedule.
Schwarzenegger also opened up about why the movie took so long to get off the ground. For him, it was never about rushing into another sequel just for nostalgia. He wanted the story, tone, and creative team to feel right before stepping back into Conan’s boots.
“For the last ten years I have been saying, ‘we should do King Conan, and we should get a great script written, get someone who really understands Robert E. Howard, that understands the artwork of Frank Frazetta and to continue on.’
“I want to have John Milius, the director of Conan 1, to be maybe the producer. So, it will be really fantastic,” he said.
The original Conan the Barbarian still holds up because it wasn’t treated like a disposable fantasy movie. It had grit, mythic scale, and a raw energy that made Conan feel larger than life. Bringing in filmmakers who actually understand the tone of Robert E. Howard’s stories could make all the difference here.
What’s especially cool is the direction Schwarzenegger says the story will take. Instead of pretending Conan is still the same unstoppable warrior from the early ‘80s, the film leans into age, experience, and the burden of power. The character has spent decades ruling as king, and now people are beginning to see him as vulnerable.
“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. Look at the movie by Clint Eastwood, The Unforgiven. It will be a lot like that but it will be with extraordinary battles,” Schwarzenegger explained.
That comparison to Unforgiven paints a pretty awesome picture. An aging Conan dragged back into violence for one last brutal chapter sounds like exactly the kind of story this sequel should tell.
If McQuarrie really is steering the ship, there’s a good chance the action and scale could be massive while still keeping the character-driven edge fans want.
No casting details have been revealed yet, and there’s still plenty we don’t know about the plot. But after years of false starts and development limbo, King Conan finally sounds real, and seeing Schwarzenegger return to one of his most iconic fantasy roles for a darker, older-warrior story could end up being badass.