I thought the Conan story was dead and there was nothing more to be had from it, however I might well have been wrong. There's been attempts at getting another film together for some time, but nothing has worked while at Warner Brothers. Now they've lost the rights to the series a strong bidding battle has resulted in New Line picking up Conan, Robert E. Howard's story of the mythical warrior.

The interest in the Conan franchise could be attributed to the success of 300 (Filmstalker review), but it seems that the initial asking price of US$1 million for a single year option with a US$1 million for each year extension was just a bit too much, you think?

According to Variety New Line will have to start from scratch as all the failed attempts that Warner Brothers had are staying right there. These include a script by the Wachowski brothers, John Milius (the original director and co-writer alongside Oliver Stone) and even Robert Rodriguez. Apparently it was Rodriguez's version that was the closest to being made. Not now however.

So it's a restart for the franchise and for this sequel, and no, there won't be an Arnie in this one, which I find a huge shame. I wish that one of the Arnie starring franchises has a chance to come back with a an excellent sequel as both Willis and Stallone have.

Still, for all Conan fans out there this is big news. The Conan story kicks off again, and this time it might have a chance.