Arnold Schwarzenegger Returns as King Conan in New Film by Mission: Impossible Director

According to reports confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, McQuarrie, known for directing the last four 'Mission: Impossible films', has been attached to write and direct the project for 20th Century Studios.

Schwarzenegger is expected to reprise his legendary role as Conan, the sword-wielding warrior he first portrayed in the 1982 fantasy classic 'Conan the Barbarian' and its 1984 sequel.

Schwarzenegger announced McQuarrie's involvement during an appearance at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio over the weekend, offering fans an early glimpse into the story direction for the film.

Teasing the premise of King Conan, the actor said the story takes place decades after Conan's rise to power.

"It's a great story where Conan was 40 years king and he gets complacent, and now he gets forced out of the kingdom slowly," Schwarzenegger told the crowd, adding, "Then there's conflict, of course, and then he somehow comes back, and then there's all kinds of madness and violence and magic and creatures," as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.

The actor also highlighted the scale that modern filmmaking technology could bring to the fantasy epic.

"Now, of course, you have all the special effects, and the studio system has plenty of money to make those movies really big," he said, adding that he is looking forward to working on the project.

The new film marks the latest attempt by Hollywood to bring Schwarzenegger back to the role that helped define his early career.

Over the past decade, several efforts were made to revive the franchise with an age-appropriate storyline for the character.

In the early 2010s, Universal Pictures held the rights and developed a project written by Fast and Furious scribe Chris Morgan that reportedly envisioned an older Conan in a narrative inspired by Unforgiven.

That version ultimately never moved forward.

More recently, 20th Century Studios has spent much of the past year working to secure the necessary rights to move ahead with a new film centered on the character created by author Robert E Howard.

Beyond 'King Conan', Schwarzenegger revealed he has also been in discussions with filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg about potentially returning to the 'Predator' franchise, which Trachtenberg revived with the 2022 film 'Prey' and last year's 'Predator: Badlands'.

The actor also noted that he has received a script for 'Commando 2', which would see him return as Colonel John Matrix, the character he originated in the 1985 action film.

- ANI