We all know that Arnold Schwarzenegger is game for returning to his barbarian roots for THE LEGEND OF CONAN (aka KING CONAN), which is aiming for a Spring 2015 start date. But now legendary director Francis Ford Coppola has shared that CONAN THE BARBARIAN director John Milius could be up for stepping into the director's chair for the long-awaited follow-up.
THE GODFATHER director Coppola recently spoke with The Arnold Fans, sharing that Milius, who suffered from a debilitating stroke a few years ago, is recovering well and could be CONAN ready! Says Coppola:
"John Milius is doing really well, Coppola assures TheArnoldFans. "Of course he had a stroke but he's regained some of his speech. But what's wonderful about him now is a real goodness exudes. He used to play games talking about his convictions and talk about his love of guns but that was all in his way of entertaining. He's a very, very sweet person and that comes out now. He's getting better. He's young so he's going to get better."
When asked if he felt Milius has recovered enough to step back into the CONAN directing chair, Coppola stated:
"Sure. Oh yeah, without a doubt."
While it is still up to the producers and the studio to decide who helms THE LEGEND OF CONAN, I feel that Milius would be the perfect guy for the job if his health has improved to the point he could handle the duties. How awesome would that be? I'm geeking out just thinking about it!
The Arnold Fans go on to share that producer Fredrik Malmberg just announced there will be returning cast members from the first film in THE LEGEND OF CONAN. Says Malmberg…
"The marching orders we got from the studio was to make a sequel to the first film as if it happened 30 years later. And as I just got the final draft for the producer's script, Chris Morgan and I went through it a few days ago and we said, there are a lot of characters here that come out for the first movie and there are a lot of locations here that come out of the first movie…so it's quite timely that I happen to travel to Almeria right now."
I'm praying to the Movie Gods that this film happens (preferably sooner rather than later…we've waited long enough!).
So who would YOU like to see sitting in the director's chair for THE LEGEND OF CONAN? Hit us up with your thoughts below.