'Conan' rides again at WB with Yakin (VAR)
By Stephen Saito
"Remember the Titans" director Boaz Yakin, who once was tapped to revive the Batman franchise for Warner Bros., will turn his attention to reviving the "Conan the Barbarian" franchise for the studio. The director has signed a deal to write and direct a film likely to start production in the beginning of 2007.
Irving Azoff, Jon Jashni, Richard Alexander and Akiva Goldsman will produce. Executive producers will be Peter Sederowsky and Fredrik Malmberg. The duo will handle "Conan" author Robert E. Howard's estate through their Paradox Entertainment banner.
Writes Variety:
Yakin, best known for writing and directing "Fresh" and for directing the gridiron hit "Remember the Titans," has been a fan of the Howard series since childhood and came up with a take that impressed the studio.
Yakin's concept is more faithful to the Howard story than were the two Dino De Laurentiis-produced "Conan" films that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the sword-wielding conqueror.
WB has tried diligently to revive Conan and got close twice. "The Matrix""The Matrix" directors Larry and Andy Wachowski circled, and then Robert Rodriguez emerged, but hiring the latter became problematic after he quit the Directors Guild of America so he could co-helm "Sin City" with Frank Miller.
