So, we finally know who’s going to play Conan in the remake of the 1982 film that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a household name. Jason Momoa (and not Kellan Lutz) will take on the role of the slave turned vengeful warrior. Now you must be dying to know who will play his father.
The Hollywood Reporter says Mickey Rourke is in negotiations to play Conan’s dad, Corin. The Latino Review reported back in January that he had been offered the role but that the deal had fallen apart. Now it seems it’s back on.
Rourke, whose career hit a slump in the nineties, has enjoyed a comeback lately, with an Oscar nomination for The Wrestler and a bunch of projects in development, including Passion Play, with Bill Murray and Megan Fox and The Expendables, featuring a collection of 1980s action heroes, including Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren and Sylvester Stallone.
Marcus Nispel, who directed remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th, will helm Conan. The story sees the Barbarian embark on a quest to avenge the slaughter of his people including his father.
As for what else to expect, in an interview last summer with ConanMovieBlog.com, Nispel said, “The character of Conan is what most attracted me to this project. He is the last of the reality-based superheroes and the most unapologetic one at that. I find that refreshing in these politically correct times….The original Conan movie was written by two master storytellers, Oliver Stone and John Milius, giving us a tough act to follow! Their movie also features the best beheading ever in a major motion picture. Besides, perhaps Let the Right One In, which is another perfect example of creativity over special effects.
“Like all movies they have to be understood in the context of the time they were produced. Our collective consciousness changes every generation, though and we can’t step into the same river twice. Conan the Barbarian was initially released in the disco era, on the heels of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. The original film must have hit people like a freight train upon its release. Today is a different time entirely. As a society, we are more cynical in times of depression. We have been overfed with high gloss and contrived CG imagery and seek something we can grasp. As our consciousness has shifted, so will the image of Conan.”