We haven’t been clocking the “Conan The Barbarian” reboot closely or simply “Conan” as it’s now known. And kinda with good reason.
Geeks are all over this for obvious reasons, nostalgia being one factor, but the talent behind this one doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. Part of the reason we haven’t followed closely is that it’s a film directed by Marcus Nispel, a bit of a Michael Bay stooge who has thus far helmed gems like the 2003 version of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (meh) and the 2009 reboot of “Friday the 13th” (awful).
Well, Nikki Finke is now reporting that Jason Momoa has won the role of “Conan” from a project coming from Millennium Films and Lionsgate (hmm).
The only reason why we really care, and or are putting in the two minutes to report this, is because of who wasn’t cast. Kellan Lutz the “Twilight” star was up for this? Jared Padalecki (from “Friday the 13th” and “Gilmore Girls”)? Those two wimpy skinny looking dudes?? (ok, maybe not so skinny, but dorky looking for sure and not scary-looking or tough at all).
When those rumors were circulating around this week — and evidently they were true — the kid in us who grew up with “Conan The Barbarian,” the Arnold Schwarzenegger version obviously, was practically offended. Also, anytime a “Twilight” person does not get a role, we’re pretty happy because it’s generally a win in the opposite direction of every creative-less studio hack that bellows, “put someone from ‘Twilight in this!,” anytime some major casting decision comes up.
Honestly, we have no idea who Momoa is (apparently from TV shows like “”Stargate: Atlantis,” “North Shore”and “The Game”), but hell, at least the dude looks the part and looks like he’d probably kick our asses about 50 times over. That’s the kinda guy you need to hire for this role.
That said, this can’t possibly be good and it’s probably for that niche horror/action audience that enjoyed the aforementioned Nispel projects (though when we say niche, that’s not to say these movies don’t make money, they do, they just don’t ever access or aim for quality). Hell, even the very-flawed “X-Men: The Last Stand” by Brett Ratner was more entertaining and engaging then anything Nispel’s ever made (and Ratner was obviously once part of the plan to direct this reboot).
Apparently production starts March 15 in Bulgaria. Meh, as you were, rant over.
UPDATE: Latino Review are reporting that an offer has gone out to Mickey Rourke to play the role of Corin, Conan’s father, who trains him up to become a warrior. It’s not a huge part — judging from a script, dated October 2009, Rourke’ll be done by the end of the first reel, but we don’t begrudge him cashing in a decent payday, particularly as he ended up taking the role in “Iron Man 2” for a relatively cut-price fee. Rather him than Liam Neeson playing the mentor/father figure for the 400th time… Of course, it may never come to pass — Latino Review were after all behind the Tobey Maguire in “The Hobbit” rumor, and even if it is true, Rourke may not accept the part. Keep that in mind (via Collider).