Legend Of Conan Producer Promises A Story Worth Telling
Conan the Barbarian is returning to us, but this time he won’t be harder, better, faster or stronger. Instead, The Legend of Conan will pick up years after the Cimmerian warrior was in his prime, and will star an aging Arnold Schwarzenegger as well. But instead of being a bad idea like some believe, producer Chris Morgan said that this is the best approach for the story.
“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,” Morgan told The Los Angeles Times. “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.”
He continued, “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.”
Interestingly enough, Morgan — best known for his work writing “Wanted” and the last four “Fast & Furious” moves — won’t be writing “The Legend of Conan.” Instead, he will only be acting as its producer, though he promised to be there “every step of the way.” After all, he’s the one who convinced Schwarzenegger to return for the film despite being an aging former governor far outside his Hollywood prime, and he’s the one who has a vision that will make revisiting the take of Conan the Barbarian worthwhile.
“[Conan’s] not going out and fighting battles, but he ends up getting drawn into something,” Morgan explained of the plot of the movie. “And he has to access the barbarian he was in his youth. I love that Conan has been many things in his life, notably a pirate, a major tactician and a commander of men. In this movie, we’re going to tap into some of those things – things you haven’t seen on screen yet.”
Lord Shaper
