Arnold Schwarzenegger and Christopher McQuarrie are moving forward with King Conan, the long-awaited Conan the Barbarian sequel. Schwarzenegger told fan outlet TheArnoldFans that the project is eyeing a 2027 start for production, with the announcement timed to the 44th anniversary of the original 1982 film.
McQuarrie, who helmed the four most recent Mission: Impossible films, is attached to write and direct the follow-up for 20th Century Studios. Schwarzenegger would reprise his role as the sword-wielding barbarian, a part that became one of his earliest signature performances.
Fredrik Malmberg of Conan Properties International, producer on the project, confirmed that a deal between CPI, Arnold, and 20th Century Fox has officially been completed. That’s a big deal. For years, this film existed mostly as a “someday” conversation.
Schwarzenegger made his feelings on the project very clear. “Next year, we are going to do King Conan,” he told the outlet.
“So that is a reality now, and I am excited about it. For the last 10 years, I have been saying, ‘We should do King Conan, and we should get a great script written, get someone who really understands Robert E. Howard, that understands the artwork of Frank Frazetta and to continue on.'”
He also expressed a desire for Conan the Barbarian director John Milius to take on a producer role: “I want to have John Milius, the director of Conan 1, to be maybe the producer, so it will be really fantastic.”
As for the story itself, Schwarzenegger has been open about the concept.
“The movie wouldn’t have worked after I did the first Conan because the whole idea of King Conan is that, for 40 years, he has been king. He is older now. He is no longer in the shape he was from his heyday, and now people are trying to take him out. He’s the king, and he gets a little bit complacent. He’s tired of the job, and he wants to move on. Look at the movie by Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven. It will be a lot like that, but it will be with extraordinary battles.”
He explained
That Unforgiven comparison is intentional and telling. Schwarzenegger sees this as his own version of Eastwood’s swan song to the western genre. It’s a legacy sequel built around age, weight, and consequence rather than pure spectacle.
Schwarzenegger last played Conan in the 1984 sequel Conan the Destroyer. He had no involvement in Lionsgate’s 2011 reboot starring Jason Momoa, which was poorly received.
Hollywood has long tried to bring Schwarzenegger back to the Conan role. Universal held the rights in the early 2010s, with Fast and Furious writer Chris Morgan developing an Unforgiven-style story. Despite years of effort, it never got made.
Schwarzenegger last appeared on the big screen in 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate. He did recently wrap Adam Shankman’s Christmas action comedy The Man with the Bag, which Amazon/MGM is reportedly positioning for late fall 2026.
McQuarrie also has a Battlefield video game adaptation in development, with recent Oscar-winner Michael B. Jordan attached to lead, and a bidding war currently underway.
King Conan does not yet have a release date, but filming is expected to begin in 2027.
