Neil Marshall Wants to Direct Conan Remake

He’s got “Doomsday” coming out, but what British director Neil Marshall really wants to do is direct the upcoming “Conan” remake. Alas, according to Marshall himself, while he did have one meeting with the producers to pitch his vision of the movie, he hasn’t heard back from them as yet, and he doesn’t believe he’ll get the job. Which would be too bad, because Marshall would seem to have the grit and skills to carry out a bloody resurrection of the Conan mythos. He said as much to MTV in an interview, below.

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Although Marshall admitted to us that he’s not very familiar with Robert E. Howard’s savage creation as imagined in the pages of “Weird Tales” magazine more than 70 years ago (”I’m not into comics in a big way”), he said he’d love to extend the film franchise. “I love that world,” he said. “I was a huge fan of the first film. It’s the potential to do a rip-roaring adventure, within a semi-historical world. It just appeals to me hugely.”

As for the take that he pitched to the series’ gatekeepers, Marshall revealed some very visual ideas. “It’s no bearing on the comic strips at all. I’m more influenced by Frazetta’s fantasy art,” he said of much-emulated fantasy illustrator Frank Frazetta, who was fond of muscle-bearing shots of a long-haired Conan taking down enemies by the dozens. “That puts more ideas into my head than comic books. I just thought it could be a lot of fun…We shall see.”

Producers of “Conan”, er, give this guy a call. Trust me, he can do Conan right.