Even though he was bordering on a caricature of the uber-military hard ass, I thought Stephen Lang’s turn in AVATAR as Col. Quaritch was one of the highlights of the film. And it appears someone else thought that too, as according to Latino Review, Lang has been offered the main villainous role in CONAN, Khalar Singh.
Not familiar with Conan lore? Here’s the official description of the role that went out in the fall:
Khalar Singh is in his 40s to 50s, Asian or Middle Eastern, Central Asian, Mongol, Turkish, or Persian, open to all ethnicities; commanding in size and manner, a warlord and formidable warrior, brilliant, cruel, weathered and tanned by the many campaigns he has waged and won. He is driven in his quest to find the Queen of Acheron and has been building an empire to do so.
His goal is to find the Queen whose blood will bring life to the demonic minions of Acheron while making himself king of this hellish power. With this power, Khalar will protect his legacy against the onslaught of master sorcerer, Thoth-Amon so that his weak son, Fariq may rule after his death. While riding into a Cimmerian village to recruit his old comrade, Corin, his large collection of mercenaries slaughters them to the last soul when Corin refuses to join them. The village’s only survivor was young Conan. When Khalar’s search has finally narrowed to the likely discovery of the queen at a monastery of female monks, he also learns Conan is older and hungry for revenge…
OK, so Lang isn’t exactly Asian, Middle Eastern or Mongol, but stick him in the tanning booth for a few hours and he’ll be good to go. These talks are in no way confirmation he has the part, merely that it’s been offered to him, but I have to imagine it’s likely to end up happening, which would be a very cool addition to the film.