Arnold Schwarzenegger is returning to his iconic role as Conan the Barbarian in a new film titled King Conan, with Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie attached to write and direct for 20th Century Studios. The announcement comes over four decades after the original 1982 film established Schwarzenegger as a major action star and became a defining entry in the sword-and-sorcery genre.
Schwarzenegger revealed the project at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, describing the premise: “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. 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.”
The original Conan the Barbarian, directed by John Milius, grossed over $68 million worldwide on a $20 million budget and has since achieved cult classic status. The film’s success spawned the 1984 sequel Conan the Destroyer and cemented the character created by Robert E. Howard as a cinematic icon. Schwarzenegger intended to make a third film, Conan the Conqueror, in the late 1980s, but it never materialized.
Universal attempted to develop a King Conan project in the early 2010s with Fast & Furious writer Chris Morgan, positioning an older Conan in an Unforgiven-style narrative. Despite years of development, that version never reached production. 20th Century has spent the past year securing rights to the character to move forward with this new iteration.
McQuarrie’s involvement brings some credibility to the project. His recent Mission: Impossible films have grossed nearly $600 million worldwide, demonstrating his ability to handle large-scale action while maintaining character focus. The pairing of McQuarrie’s technical skill with Schwarzenegger’s iconic presence suggests potential for a worthy continuation of the franchise.
However, Hollywood’s recent track record with legacy characters raises legitimate concerns. The industry has established a pattern of bringing back aging white male heroes only to diminish them in favor of younger, diverse replacements. Star Wars transformed Luke Skywalker from the galaxy’s hope into a bitter hermit who dies after minimal screen time, positioning Rey as his superior despite her lack of training. Star Trek: Picard reduced the legendary captain to a supporting character in his own show, surrounded by younger female characters who frequently lecture and outperform him.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny brought back Harrison Ford at 80, only to have his goddaughter PHelena overshadow him throughout the film while Indy himself appeared diminished and ineffective. The Matrix Resurrections portrayed an older Neo as confused and powerless, requiring rescue from younger characters. Terminator: Dark Fate killed John Connor in the opening minutes, replacing him with Dani Ramos as the new savior of humanity while an aging T-800 lived as a suburban drapery installer.
The pattern is consistent: legacy male heroes return not to triumph but to be humbled, replaced, or killed off to make room for successors who embody contemporary diversity priorities. These creative choices often alienate the original fanbase while failing to attract new audiences, resulting in box office disappointments and franchise damage.
King Conan faces this same risk. The premise of Conan being “forced out of the kingdom” and needing to “somehow come back” could easily become another story of an aging hero diminished by younger, more progressive characters. Will the film respect Conan as the protagonist of his own story, or will it use him as a vehicle to elevate new characters at his expense?
Schwarzenegger’s enthusiasm suggests he wouldn’t participate in a project designed to humiliate the character. His description emphasizes “madness and violence and magic and creatures,” which doesn’t sound like a regular Hollywood deconstruction. The actor noted that modern special effects and studio budgets can “make those movies really big,” indicating ambitions for a proper fantasy epic.
McQuarrie’s track record also provides some reassurance. His Mission: Impossible films have consistently centered Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt as the capable, heroic protagonist without diminishing him to elevate supporting characters. If McQuarrie applies the same approach to Conan, the film could deliver the respectful legacy sequel fans hope for.
The project remains in early development with no announced release date or additional casting. Schwarzenegger is represented by UTA, Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, and Lavely & Singer. McQuarrie is represented by Greenberg Glusker.
What do you think of King Conan?
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I love Conan, the movies and Howard's writing both. So all I want right now is to have hope for this. But I don't. At this stage it just saddens me this is made at all. I dont mind being proven wrong, but we all know how this will end.
If I'm going off of what Arnold said, it sounds like the movie is taking a lot of plot points from Robert E. Howard's Conan novel, Hour of the Dragon. In that story, Conan is king of Aquilonia but was forced out due to a coup. He then later regains his throne in typical Conan fashion.
That's a Conan story that could and should be made, though Arnold isn't exactly young anymore, so I don't know how they're going to do the action scenes. At this point though, I would rather have a new Conan that is a direct adaptation of the original Robert E. Howard stories instead of trying to make a sequel to the Arnold films.
Edit: The Phoenix on the Sword and The Scarlet Citadel are two other King Conan stories that they could also be taking notes from.