The 1982 fantasy/adventure Conan The Barbarian will see a new sequel in the form of The Legend Of Conan! On top of that, Conan portrayer Arnold Schwarzenegger has committed to the role, which aims to honor the original work of John Milius.

TheArnoldFans has interviewed two producers and Schwarzenegger about the upcoming project and what they say is incredibly exciting for the Conan fan in me!

One sad fact is that the new film won’t be graced with the music of composer Basil Poledouris, who passed away in 2006. His sweeping scores and epic orchestrations were a big part of the thrill and excitement of the film. In fact, when he was a composer on a film, you could almost be certain that his music would elevate each scene into something incredible.

Producer/co-writer Chris Morgan states:

Our tone is a logical extension of the character established in the ’82 film…but 30 years later. When we meet him again, Conan has been many things over the course of his life — a thief, a warrior, a pirate, a king, a legend — and is now an older man. Think Unforgiven…with a sword-wielding barbarian.

[John] Milius was a visionary. And a hero of mine. He established a milieu that is stunning and violent and clear — incomparable. The goal, the dream, is to live up to his world. To make it worthy. And to expand on it in a truthful way that audiences will embrace. We’re very lucky that the architects of this new film — the writer, the producers, the studio and most of all, Arnold — who is Conan — are all first-generation fans who either worked on the film or who came along for the ride, cheering from their theater seats opening night. We plan nothing more than to immerse ourselves in the world Milius envisioned from Robert E. Howard’s unforgettable stories and Frank Frazetta’s stunning artwork. I can’t give specifics, but know we are honoring the locales, the religions and the traditions of the ’82 film.

Producer Frank Malmberg adds:

Our marching orders from the studio were to create a film worthy as a successor to the 1982 film, which was pretty brutal. To Conan it’s not about fancy sword moves; it’s about the fastest and most effective way of disposing of your enemy. A dance of death, maybe, at least primal. In my opinion, Conan is beloved because of his political incorrectness. He doesn’t think, he just acts. People can relate to the freshness of somebody who doesn’t give a damn about civilization — in fact, despises it. At the same time he is a magnificent fighter, leader and friend.

Schwarzenegger commented:

It is the greatest honor to be 67 years old and to still be asked to come back into all those franchises. Whether it is the Terminator movie or it is now Conan, it is fantastic! As a matter of fact, when I get back to Los Angeles, I’ll be getting the final script and then I will see it for the first time. But with Universal Pictures, I’ve tried to convince them now for 20 years to go back and continue with the Conan series and they were not as enthusiastic as I was. But then later, new management came in at Universal and they saw it entirely differently. They came to me right away and said they want to pick up the Conan series and to look at some writers and let’s get going on that. So we’ve been working on Conan and I’m really excited to be working on this – to do another Conan movie and hopefully it will be soon!