Writer Chris Morgan Talks About The Tone of Schwarzenegger's THE LEGEND OF CONAN

Chris Morgan is perhaps best known as the primary writer of the Fast & Furious franchise, but he has some other projects brewing while we wait on Furious 8 to come to fruition. One of those is The Legend of Conan, which is being envisioned as a sequel to 1982's Conan The Barbarian that takes place thirty years later (not unlike the way Star Wars: The Force Awakens operates on the timeline). 

Morgan has spoken about the movie before, but in a new interview with The Arnold Fans, the writer/producer talks about the film's tone and aspiring to achieve something similar to what John Milius did with the original:

A light-hearted Conan?! CROM! No. Our tone is a logical extension of the character established in the ’82 film…but 30 years later. When we meet him again, Conan has been many things over the course of his life — a thief, a warrior, a pirate, a king, a legend — and is now an older man. Think Unforgiven…with a sword-wielding barbarian.

Milius was a visionary. And a hero of mine. He established a milieu that is stunning and violent and clear — incomparable. The goal, the dream, is to live up to his world. To make it worthy. And to expand on it in a truthful way that audiences will embrace. We’re very lucky that the architects of this new film — the writer, the producers, the studio and most of all, Arnold — who is Conan — are all first-generation fans who either worked on the film or who came along for the ride, cheering from their theater seats opening night. We plan nothing more than to immerse ourselves in the world Milius envisioned from Robert E. Howard’s unforgettable stories and Frank Frazetta’s stunning artwork. I can’t give specifics (nobody likes a spoiler!), but know we are honoring the locales, the religions and the traditions of the ’82 film.

If you're a fan of the original film, I'd recommend checking out a documentary called Milius that dives into the life of the director of that project. It's streaming right now on Netflix, and it gives some good insight into the mindset of the man this sequel is trying to emulate. At this point, The Legend of Conan sounds like it's going to be fantastic...but will the movie be able to live up to its own hype?