Producer Fredrik Malmberg, rights holder of the written works of author Robert E.Howard, said that his upcoming Universal Pictures production "The Legend Of Conan", co-starring a mature Arnold Schwarzenegger as 'Conan The King', will have even more lurid "Weird Fantasy" pulp magazine sword 'n sorcery' scenarios, than Lionsgate's recent "Conan The Barbarian" feature.
Although actor Jason Momoa looked and moved the way illustrator Frank Frazetta envisioned the 'Cimmerian' in "Conan The Barbarian", the actor failed to generate an emotional connection with the audience.
Now director Paul Verhoeven, of "RoboCop", "Total Recall" and "Basic Instinct" fame, has expressed an interest in directing "The Legend Of Conan".
"But", said Malmberg, "as you know right now we’re concentrating on story and script, and then we’ll go out and find the right director who has the same passion as the rest of us in the group.
"And you always have to let the creative side and let the director put his stamp and mark on it, so you never know what’s going to happen with the production design. I mean, we’re trying to get top production people involved. We’re talking all the time about who we’d see doing the production, and our dream would be to have the WETA Workshop guys, the 'LOTR' and 'Hobbit' guys.
"They are huge 'Conan' fans and they would be great to be involved on the creative side.
"I’m a huge fan of Peter Jackson, but he must have spent over ten years in fantasy-land, and maybe his storytelling is slightly different from Conan’s. I’m not so sure Jackson would be attracted to Conan. It’s more fast-paced. 'LOTR' and 'The Hobbit' are great films of course, but his are maybe more high fantasy and 'Conan' more down and dirty."
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