By Ryan Parsons | Image property of Millennium Films, Hollywood Reporter
Conan
Has Lionsgate done big, sword-swinging epics before? I'm cycling through my memory and can't remember anything worth remembering. Hoping to get the genre right, Lionsgate has picked up fantasy-adventure scribes Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain to rewrite the script for Conan.
Conan Rewriters
The duo have also been brought in to carry over Amazon, another fantasy-adventure epic about female warriors to which Scarlett Johansson has been attached. The project is sailing out of turnaround toward Lionsgate as well, with Neal Moritz and his Original Film banner coming along to produce once the deal is completed.
No director has been attached to either project, though Lionsgate is defiitely on the lookout.
"We all want this movie to go into production as soon as possible," CEO of Paradox Entertainment Frank Malmberg said. "It's a fast-tracked movie. Lionsgate felt the process was enhanced by having a second team come in and do a script."
Lionsgate is hoping that Conan can pull off the same feat for the franchise that Batman Begins did for Batman. In order to do this, the studio has given the R-rated project a $100 million budget, the largest production to date for Lionsgate and Millennium.
"Fans expect (these types of movies) to be more true to the source material," Malmberg said. "There's no reason there couldn't be a Conan movie every two years. He's almost like Batman: He's a dark hero. He's a hard hero. He has to be badass, but we also have to like him."
Add to Heffee!
