Arnold Schwarzenegger Shares A Scene From The Unmade ‘King Conan’ Script To Motivate Its Writer, Director John Milius, Who Is Battling Cancer
A scripted scene from the unmade Conan sequel, King Conan, has leaked, and it’s thanks to the guy meant to star in the film, the man who made the iconic role famous in the first place – the inimitable Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, as exciting as this occasion would normally be, it couldn’t come at a worse time.
Schwarzenegger shared the scene as an act of solidarity to support and motivate his friend, John Milius, who directed the first film and wrote the King Conan script. Milius is suffering from cancer, and the Governator is journeying into the Hyborian Age to confront death and aging head-on with inspiration for the filmmaker.
The scene involves Conan, far removed from the heat of battle and swinging a sword, wandering the halls of his castle when he, broken and tired, is tempted by the Devil to give up then and there. “In his script for King Conan, John Milius wrote one of the most powerful scenes I’ve read in any script,” Schwarzenegger wrote in his latest Monday Motivation newsletter.
“Conan had become complacent after years on the throne. He no longer had the same hunger, and his sword had become an artifact on his wall instead of the instrument of action you remember from Conan the Barbarian. He was at that point in his life where he was content to relive his glory days instead of creating new ones,” he continued.
“Then, one night, he’s walking through the dark halls of his castle, and Death – the devil – confronts him,” the actor explained. “The devil tells Conan he’s old and tired, and invites him to just come with him, where he can relax and rest in comfort…It awakens something in Conan, and in his old Barbarian fashion, he tells the devil, ‘F–k you,’ and unsheaths his sword for the first time in ages to literally fight Death himself.”
“I won’t spoil the whole story in case someone ever decides we should finally make King Conan, but I think a lot of you, especially those of you who are aging, might see yourself in this scene,” Schwarzenegger stressed.
“And last week, when I went to visit John Milius, I had to use his own lines on the man himself, because he needed to hear it. You know John as the writer of some of the greatest movies of all time, like Apocalypse Now, and as the director of Conan and other amazing movies. He’s a friend and a mentor, and I owe my career to him, so as he is fighting cancer and other health challenges, I feel a duty to be there to pump him up,” he said in his old parlance.
“John has been a real champion, fighting this cancer with courage. But I know it’s hard to go through chemo, and his nurse told me he needs to get up and walk more, so I asked him if he’s walking,” Schwarzengger recalled. “He told me he didn’t feel like it, and I reminded him of what he wrote about Conan.”
“I said,” he continued, “John, that’s not you who doesn’t want to walk. That’s the devil inside you. You know better than anyone he will play tricks on you. He will tell you to lie down, to just relax, to choose comfort. That’s because he wants you sooner. But you have to say ‘F–k you!’ like Conan. He can have you someday, but not today. This is a battle, and you are a gladiator. It goes from morning to night.”
A few collections and series bear the name “King Conan,” but the script by Milius, meant to complete a trilogy, has been in development hell for a long time. Schwarzenegger really wants to make it, and he’s been stymied for years by rights holders more enthralled by the hope of a streaming series.
“It’s really not that far from creating a finished script,” he said in 2019 to website The Arnold Fans. “The only one who really has to pull the trigger there is the people who own the Conan rights to do a movie. Let’s go to Netflix or whoever it is, let’s hire a director who [is] very creative and can elevate the project to make it a winning project. I hope it will be done very soon because I think it’s a great idea.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with John Milius during his ongoing battle.
NEXT: Live-Action ‘Conan The Barbarian’ Series No Longer At Netflix, Possible Film In The Works
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