Arnold Schwarzenegger confirms plan to reprise iconic Hollywood role over 40 years after previous film in franchise

While some Arnold Schwarzenegger franchises have continued to produce new entries at impressive rates – most notably the Predator series – there are others that have largely been left untouched since the action star's '80s heyday.

But it looks like we could be about to see Schwarzenegger return to one of his most iconic characters in the near future, with news emerging that he's set to reprise his role as Conan the Barbarian for a new film helmed by Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie.

McQuarrie will write and direct a new film that will see Schwarzenegger play the character for the first time in more than four decades, following the original movie in 1982 and its sequel two years later.

While there have been rumblings of a new film for many years, it looks like real headway is being made this time around – and Schwarzenegger himself announced McQuarrie's involvement at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio this past weekend.

"It’s a great story where Conan was 40 years king and he gets complacent, and now he gets forced out of the kingdom, slowly," the former Governor of California explained.

"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 plenty of money to make those movies really big. So I’m looking forward to all of those projects."

Strictly speaking, this won't be the first Conan the Barbarian film since those original two in the 1980s. Although the script for the planned third film was eventually turned into a separate movie, Kull the Conqueror – which did not include the Conan character in 1997 – a reboot starring Jason Momoa in the title role did arrive in 2011.

Still, this latest project will no doubt be exciting for fans of the original – especially since Schwarzenegger has had relatively few big-screen credits in recent years. We look forward to further updates!

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