Does anyone remember the days when Hollywood used to make original movies, rather than just mine its own past for remakes and reboots? No? Eh, oh well. Hollywood loves a reboot. And why not, being creative is difficult and time consuming work. It is so much easier to take a successful property that has been dormant for a few years and just remake it. When that film is part of an older property that predates the last movie, all the better–the studios can claim that it isn’t really a remake at all.
The next victim/winner of the remake-o-matic is next month’s Conan the Barbarian, starring a guy that is not Arnold Schwarzenegger. For many children of the 80s, Conan was an epic film, not really in need of a reboot. It held up well enough, and yet it was just popular enough and enough years had passed that a remake was in order. Plus it was taken from Robert E. Howard’s original books, so the filmmakers could (and have) claimed that their property is nothing to do with the 1982 Schwarzenegger film, but is an entirely original creation, and oh-by-the-way there was a movie about it in the 80s? Who knew.
Call it what you will: Remake, reinterpretation, reboot, etc., Conan the Barbarian arrives in theaters next month. The film hasn’t hit its promotional stride yet, so expect to hear a lot more about this film in the coming weeks. But for as much interest as this film has gained, it has also received a fair amount of skepticism due to the relatively unknown actor named Jason Momoa playing the title role. Having been best known for the show Stargate Atlantis, Momoa was not exactly a household name. But following a hugely successful and attention grabbing role as Khal Drogo on HBO’s Game of Thrones—a character with more than a little Barbarian in him—Momoa is beginning to gain some attention, and through him, so is the upcoming film.
Directed by Marcus Nispel (Friday the 13th, Pathfinder), Conan the Barbarian will hit theaters in 3D on August 19. In the meantime, check out Momoa taking some questions from viewers which hint at what to expect from the movie, as well as a few scenes from the film itself.
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