The Fate of "Twins 2" & "King Conan" with Universal Pictures!

Considering the big upset with the Sabotage box office results, many fans are worried over Schwarzenegger’s future in film and especially concerned about the fate of King Conan. Twins director, Ivan Reitman, told the press recently that there is that script to Twins 2: Triplets, however, Universal Studios isn’t showing much enthusiasm for this project.  But it’s not just Universal who’s not very interested, even Schwarzenegger fans just want the classic ‘80’s comedy left alone. Whenever we say “Triplets is coming" on Facebook or our message board, fans cry out with disgust or in worst case, mediocre acceptance. “NO, we want King Conan.” Is the usual response.

I know what you’re thinking: has Universal Pictures also lost interest in King Conan? On the contrary; with the odds that Twins 2 will not be greenlit and with major enthusiasm from the movie studio and producers for another Conan adventure, King Conan will most likely immediately follow Terminator: Genesis!

 

 “The co-president over there at Universal Pictures is Jeffrey Kirschenbaum, and he’s one of the top two executive producers,” Conan producer Fredrick Malmberg tells TheArnoldFans. “He has a huge position there at Universal, and he’s always been a huge Conan fan. ‘I want to make Conan,’ he’s said many times.”

King Conan's scriptwriter also tells us about the building excitement from within the studio.

“I have a fantastic team of producers around me and we are all ridiculously excited about how our beloved barbarian is developing,” Andrea Berloff tells TheArnoldFans.

Now In the final stages of the Conan script, Malmberg tells us they have a great story.

“We have a great story,“Malmberg begins. “Everyone loves it. This is a role that's perfect for him (Arnold) and he's very involved with the whole Universal team. It's the best team they have. Arnold has been very instrumental to being this together saying, 'We gotta make a good Conan!' I think if we do this right, we can do two more Conan movies right after. I think Game of Thrones also shows a huge interest in fantasy. I'm psyched about it.”

Andrea Berloff is just days away from finishing the final script.

“I am completely thrilled and honored to be writing Conan, says Berloff. “My fingers are nearly worn down to tiny, bloody nubbins as I'm working to give this iconic character new life, while still holding true to the qualities that made fans fall in love with him in the first place.”

At the Sabotage After-Party, I spoke to Franco Columbu who tells us again that he still wants a part with Arnold in King Conan. And yes, I’m still calling it King Conan even though the working title is “The Legend of Conan". Considering Arnold is still calling it King Conan and because that’s the name the fans want, that’s what I’m sticking with.

It is too early to say if Sabotage will ever turn a profit. Although The Last Stand and Escape Plan did not do great box office numbers here in the U.S., they did eventually make money after their full worldwide release.  Escape Plan doubled its budget in the long-run. Arnold’s movies do VERY WELL overseas. In fact, Arnie is not only surviving via worldwide sales; he's thriving. His Ulmer Scale rating? A whopping 98, which means that film financiers stand a 98 percent chance of recouping their investment in worldwide upfront sales before a single frame of a movie is even shot.

Universal Pictures is smart enough to know Conan is a franchise event film with worldwide appeal, not just a generic action hero. Conan is legendary.

Can you just imagine Arnold’s triumphant comeback with The Expendables 3, Maggie (a zombie film), Terminator 5 and King Conan! Now that’s what you call being “BACK”!