With the glorious news that Brett Ratner will not be working on Conan, it seems the studio is keeping it's nose to the ground in search of a director.
From CHUD:
The producers have been wasting no time in trying to get a new helmer for the franchise reboot, which after months of development still needs some script work and a leading actor. And according to my very trustworthy, very much correct in the past source, they've found their director:
James McTeigue.
Best known of what was considered the first good Alan Moore adaptation (though not for accuracy),
V for Vendetta, James McTeigue might have what it takes to keep the "spirit" of Conan in the film.
The question now, is the money right?
CHUD continues:
But will he have the money needed to do it right? My source fears that the loss of Ratner means a loss of budget. Ninja Assassin seems to be budgeted at around 50 million, and V For Vendetta was 54 million. Both look terrific - McTeigue is getting every penny on screen - but Conan will be much costlier, effects-wise. Will the current rumored 120 million dollar budget be slashed with this new director?
Personally speaking (as a huge Alan Moore, and Robert E. Howard fan), I think
V for Vendetta kept the "spirit" of the Moore's concept, while not necessarily adhering to a word for word adaptation. It showed that McTeigue worked with what he had, and worked very well with it.
V was originally intended to show two political extremes butting heads (Facism and Anarchism), but to make it more playable to a general audience, and to help with the budget, it was made as extreme Conservatism vs. extreme Liberalism. Seems to me, this was an acceptable change, and in no way prevented the thought provocation for the audience.
This is a good thing for Conan, while the general concept is our favorite Cimmerian busting skulls and wooing wenches, there were a lot of social concepts that Robert Howard presented in the stories.
Such as presented in,
"The Tower of the Elephant", "Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing." Conan's straight-forward tactics seem to collide with "social norms" in many of the stories, and McTeigue has proven himself capable of adapting such a social paradox for a general audience.
You can read the full article over at
CHUD.
___________________________
Your friendly neighborhood Falcon,
John "Falcon" Ayers
The Falcon's Nest