Slashfilm spoke with Aquaman and Legend of Conan screenwriter Will Beall and squeezed some intriguing details out of him.
According to Beall, the Conan the Barbarian follow-up will be much more of a direct sequel than is typical, beginning in the same moment as the iconic final shot of John Milius’ 1982 sword and sorcery classic.
“It opens there,” Beall said. “It opens with this.” It is at this point that the screenwriter placed his hand on his chin, emulating the pose Arnold Schwarzenegger as he sits on the throne of King Conan.
“It’s where you have to. It’s the sequel that we were promised and never got,” Beall said, alluding to the movie’s final voiceover (by none other than Mako):
“So, did Conan return the wayward daughter of King Osric to her home. And having no further concern, he and his companions sought adventure in the West. Many wars and feuds did Conan fight. Honor and fear were heaped upon his name and, in time, he became a king by his own hand... And this story shall also be told.”
With Arnold Schwarzenegger at a suitably kingly age, it seems time to tell this promised story.
“It’s an unbelievable movie. It comes back to Milius, right? There’s nobody better and it’s a real movie. It’s a truthful movie,” Beall said, then spoke to the work he’s put into the script with cowriter Chris Morgan. “Chris and I from the very beginning said there’s no reason to do it unless it’s a worthy sequel to Milius’ Conan and I think we’ve got that. I really do.”
Hopefully Beall is right in this self-estimation. We’re due a great Conan movie after the terrible original sequel, Conan the Destroyer and the bad (but not as bad as its reputation!) Jason Momoa reboot.
