Last month, we reported that the resurgent Mickey Rourke was in talks to play Corin, Conan’s father, in Marcus Nispel’s Conan. Now, Deadline is reporting that Rourke is indeed in talks to star in Conan, but he is also in negotiations to appear in Tarsem’s War of the Gods as King Hyperion.
Conan seemed to be the only suitor for Rourke’s services, with production set to begin near the end of March in Bulgaria, but that is being threatened. War of the Gods is set to film in in early April. Of the two, the choice seems to be obviously, especially with the recent signing of Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) to star alongside Henry Cavill in War of the Gods.
For more on the potential conflicting schedules of War of the Gods and Conan, along with news of Conan rewrites, hit the jump.
Of course, there is the added bonus of playing a King versus just the father of a muscle-bound barbarian. However, nothing has been decided yet and there is a chance that the roles in one of the two films (or both) will be so minimal that they won’t require Rourke to choose.
Then there is news that despite the “high marks” for Andrew Lobel’s rewrites on Conan, it is being worked on by Sean Hood now, according to SuperHeroHype. Hood is familiar with Conan producers Boaz Davidson and Joe Gatta at Millennium Films because he worked on the script for the upcoming Hercules. Meanwhile, Hood also knows Nispel, as the two helped script the upcoming science-fiction thriller Subterranean.
Apparently the rewrites won’t delay production at all, and I can see the ever-popular “scheduling conflict” arise. However, Rourke is a hot actor right now and his star power might influence both directors to bend a bit just to get his services. Whatever the case may be, it appears both films are moving forward rapidly and it will be interesting to see how this story develops.
What do you think, loyal readers? Will conflict arise, and if so, which picture would you sign on for? Voice your opinion in the comments below.