First, let me say: Warner Bros. SUCKS. Here’s why:
"Looks like hopes of seeing this third "Conan" on adventure have been dashed. IGN FilmForce reports that John Milius, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Larry and Andy Wachowski and Warner Brothers have all been given the shaft from working on the project in pretty much any capacity. Seems that Conan Properties Inc., the company that owns the Conan character, has decided not to allow Warners or the Wachowski's to renew their option on the film rights - an option that's apparently about to expire. The company is allegedly upset with how long the project was taking to develop, whilst the Wachowski's ongoing commitment to finishing "The Matrix" sequels meant it wouldn't have advanced any faster. However the project isn't entirely dead, CP Inc. wants to develop "a kinder, gentler Conan" which'll use "The Scorpion King" as a template (ie. they want a PG-13 family safe adventure). For now though, everything we know or have learned about the third Conan has been rendered void by this decision."
A "kinder, gentler" Conan? Egads! And folks, the script Millius had penned for this flick was AWESOME. Plenty of battle scenes, beheadings and other goodies. This is sad news, indeed.
Just wanted to add that Milius could do something similar to what David Twohy did. Twohy rec’d the shaft from the Alien v. Predator project - rather unceremoniously as well. Twohy took his completed script, tweaked some areas and we all saw the final project as “Pitch Black”. I’d say that was a nice “f” you from Mr. Twohy to the studio that booted him.
Okay, maybe it’s just been a long time, but I don’t remember ANYTHING in the Conan movies being all that racy, especially by today’s standards. Kinder and gentler? How?
Man that sucks! I just got wind that they were working on a new Conan and figured with all the gore in Braveheart, Gladiator, Patriot, Saving Private Ryan, We were Soldiers…it would have been an awesome movie but now Kindler, gentler…what bull!
There’s more news about Aw-nold, Ironman, and The Ring:
Arnold and the Westworld remake: "Arnold does not want to play the Yul Brynner role, not the android, but the Richard Benjamin role--the human! Current ideas include setting the theme park on the moon, thereby explaining why it's needed while also updating the concept. But so far, this project has not gone anywhere..."
Well, put "Westworld" in the "development hell" category for now...
Regarding the planned "Ironman" big screen project? Not so much "development hell" but call it "dead in the water". Check this out: "Joss Whedon decided that he should spend time on properties he creates, and opted to do FIREFLY... so you can count him out of this one. He was off the film before he ever got on. The McCanlies script is dead, and so is the project for now."
The Ring has grossed about $110 million domestically. Which makes Gore Verbinski (director) a "hot property" in H-Town. He's got a choice of projects now, and his next could be "Spaceless" - here's the premise: "Floating in space with a limited air supply, a man records into his spacesuit recorder the story of how he came to be in that particular predicament." - Sounds rather boring? Maybe. However, they're considering making this flick ANIMATED. Wild.
Despite Arnold's recent bad luck (King Conan getting the boot, and Westworld not going anywhere at the moment) - he's still got T3:Rise of the Machines. The first full-length trailer will be screened in theaters beginning on December 18. Folks, I have absolutely no faith in this movie. I'm not a big fan of Morstow (the director), and with Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn AND James Cameron all not wanting anything to do with this project? Was not a good sign. Yes, it's got Aw-nold. But remember, his last few movies were: End of Days, The 6th Day, and Collateral Damage. Yeah, he NEEDS a hit. That could have been True Lies 2 - but Cameron recently stated that this project is officially dead. Poor Aw-nold.