I’ll also be back as Conan: Arnold Schwarzenegger to direct third barbarian movie 44 years after the original | Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to the role that launched him as a movie star in the belated third installment of the Conan the Barbarian film series. The original film, released in 1982 and adapted from the novels by Robert E. Howard, saw the then-bodybuilder play the chivalrous sword-wielder on his quest for revenge on James Earl Jones’ cult leader, Thulsa Doom.

Schwarzenegger (78 years old), whose acting work has slowed since his return to the profession after assuming the position of governor of California, announced at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, over the weekend that director Christopher McQuarrie, best known for his work in the Mission: Impossible series, will take over the reins of King Conan.

“It’s a great story,” he said, where after sitting on the throne for 40 years, “Conan gets complacent, and now he’s being forced out of the kingdom, slowly. Then there’s conflict, of course, and then he somehow comes back, and then there’s all kinds of madness and violence and magic and creatures.”

“Now, of course, you have all the special effects, and the studio system has a lot of money to make these really big movies.”

The first film grossed $68 million and spawned a sequel two years later, Conan the Destroyer. A third film was planned for the late 1980s, but it looked different. The 2011 reboot starring Jason Momoa performed poorly with critics and at the box office.

Schwarzenegger also revealed that he plans to return to the Predator franchise – another breakout role for the star – as well as the 1985 film Commando, in which he played a loyal but formidable retired Green Beret.

In 2019, he also returned to the Terminator franchise for the poorly received Terminator: Dark Fate. Upcoming projects include the martial arts drama Kung Fury 2, opposite Michael Fassbender, and The Man With the Bag, in which he plays a distressed Santa Claus, whose bag is stolen by a petty criminal.