A few
months back, we reported that Millennium
Films was in the process of making a live-action Hercules movie, and on its
face, that’s nothing Earth-shaking. But for those who understand what Millenium
Films is about (and if you don’t, I’ll ask that you stop reading and jump to their website for a few minutes.
We’ll wait.), it was cause for celebration, as is any news from this cheesy,
yet apparently well-financed bastion of filmmaking. In fact, they’re so
well-financed that they can afford a website that is outside of our space-time
continuum. You know…the continuum where Rambo IV has a real title and a tentative release date and the 2006
version of The Wicker Man isn’t still listed as an “upcoming release” as
of August 13, 2007?
Fortunately,
Millennium’s lust for mythic, muscular heroism was hardly sated. Now, they’ve
grabbed the newly available rights to Conan as well. Warners’ rights to
the character lapsed this past spring, and a number of interested parties circled around, primarily New Line. But they all faced both a high
price tag for the rights and commitment to fast track this baby once they
acquired it. With those obstacles in place, Millennium had no problem vaulting
past the others and coughing up the reported seven figures plus for the entire
deal, and now this looks to be their most ambitious film project yet. They’re already aiming to start production by next spring, but there is no casting or even a
script happening as of yet.
It’s
interesting news that this pops the same day that Dev reported on Marvel supposedly wanting Triple H for the Thor
movie. You see, the Triple H character – such as he is – has already evolved in
recent years on wrestling television to be more Conan-like than anything else.
He refers to himself as the “King of Kings”, and he’s a natural fit for the
physicality and lack of grandiose dialogue that a Conan movie would entail.
And while Blade: Trinity wasn’t exactly a showcase for the guy, I’ve seen
more than enough of his wrestling promos to know he’s got the charisma and
skills to ace this. Still, it’s not beyond Millennium simply to grab another
little-known bodybuilding type with no screen experience whatsoever, but if
they truly have designs on this being a grand franchise, I think it’s a
no-brainer. But that’s just my fanboy casting for the day. First, however, they
have to get a good script and director together in less than six months, and I
don’t think they’re going to be able to defy time quite as well as their
website does.
It’ll be
fascinating to watch either way.