(Variety's Michael Fleming reports.... - Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to ``Conan the Barbarian'' and plans to mount a feature that will be written and directed by John Milius, the director of the original 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger film.
The deal is worth a mid-six figure advance against a payout north of $2 million if the film is made.
Milius, who wrote the original Universal Pictures film with Oliver Stone, has talked with Schwarzenegger about coming back in some capacity, though they are still working out the story and it's unclear how prominent a role the actor would play.
``The Matrix'' writers-directors Larry and Andy Wachowski will co-create the concept with Milius and are eyeing directing the second unit on the film.
Early talks with WWF champion grappler Dwayne ``The Rock'' Johnson to wield a sword in the pic looks to have gone by the wayside as Johnson committed to a $5.5 million deal with Universal to star in ``The Scorpion King,'' an action film that is a prequel to ``The Mummy 2.''
Although Universal did two ``Conan'' pictures with Schwarzenegger in the 1980s, the rights to the Robert E. Howard-created character were controlled by Stan Lee Media when it purchased Conan Properties in a stock swap. Stan Lee Media has had a number of suitors for ``Conan,'' among them Fox, Columbia, Revolution, Dimension, Beacon and Universal.
The Wachowskis, who have been longtime fans of the pic, will juggle their preproduction involvement with their plans to mount two sequels to ``The Matrix,'' a process complicated by the threat of strikes next summer by both the Writers and Screen Actors Guilds.