*Courtesy of Kevin Winter / Getty Images.*

Christopher McQuarrie is preparing to bring the ‘Conan the Barbarian’ franchise back to the big screen, with Arnold Schwarzenegger returning to the role.

Marking the 44th anniversary of the original 1982 fantasy film, Schwarzenegger recently said that ‘King Conan’ is now targeting a 2027 production start. Earlier this year, McQuarrie was announced as writing and directing the sequel for 20th Century Studios, with Schwarzenegger coming back on-board as Conan.

While discussing the project, Schwarzenegger paid tribute to Robert E. Howard, who created Conan; Frank Frazetta, whose artwork helped define the character’s visual legacy; and John Milius, who directed the 1982 cult classic Conan the Barbarian.

Schwarzenegger: “Next year, we are going to do ‘King Conan.’ So that is a reality now, and I am excited about it. For the last 10 years, I have been saying, ‘We should do King Conan, and we should get a great script written, get someone who really understands Robert E. Howard, that understands the artwork of Frank Frazetta and to continue on.’ I want to have John Milius, the director of Conan 1, to be maybe the producer. So it will be really fantastic.”

The 78-year-old actor said the story now makes more sense than it would have immediately after the first film, because the premise depends on Conan having ruled for decades.

“The movie wouldn’t have worked after I did the first ‘Conan’ because the whole idea of ‘King Conan’ is that, for 40 years, he has been king. He is older now. He is no longer in the shape he was from his heyday, and now people are trying to take him out. He’s the king, and he gets a little bit complacent. He’s tired of the job, and he wants to move on. Look at the movie by Clint Eastwood, ‘Unforgiven.’ It will be a lot like that, but it will be with extraordinary battles.”

Conan was one of Schwarzenegger’s earliest defining roles. He last played the character in 1984’s ‘Conan the Destroyer.’

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