Latino Review got a scoop last week that said Stephen Lang, the guy who casually drank coffee while destroying Hometree, had joined the cast of Conan. They said he would play the main villian, Khalar Singh, who is described as “commanding in size and manner, a warlord and formidable warrior, brilliant, cruel, weathered and tanned by the many campaigns he has waged and won. He is driven in his quest to find the Queen of Acheron and has been building an empire to do so.”

In a recent interview with MTV Lang confirmed he had been cast in Conan, and spoke briefly about the cutting off Mickey Rourke’s genitals.

“I’ve accepted the role of Khalar Singh,” he said. “I have no idea how I’m going to do it. First I’m going to find out how I’m going to sound. I’m going to get back on a Mongolian pony and ride like the wind. I’m going to flash my scimitar. I’m going to cut the nuts off Conan and his father.”

In other Conan news Latino Review also got word that Rachel Nichols (G.I Joe) will be playing the female love interest in the film. Her character is called Tamara and she is a “master of martial arts” and “has been trained to be the Queen’s servant, bodyguard and best friend”. She teams up with Conan to track down Khalar Singh after he captures the Queen of Acheron.

Conan begins filming this month in Bulgaria under the direction of Marcus Nispel (Pathfinder) and will be released by Lionsgate sometime in 2011.

Following the announcement that Jason Momoa had been cast as Conan in…Conan, it was rumored that Mickey Rourke was in talks to play his father. Since then we haven’t had any confirmation either way, however now Heat Vision are reporting that Mickey Rourke is indeed in talks to play Corin.

Rourke, who had been tipped off to play the father in January, was offered the role, but dealmaking fell apart. The two sides came back to the table in the last couple of weeks.

The story sees Conan embark on a quest to avenge the slaughter of his people including his father, Corin.

SHH are also reporting that Sean Hood has been hired to complete some last minute re-writes to the script. Filming is due to begin in Bulgaria in March, so they are cutting it fine. Conan will be directed by Marcus Nispel (Pathfinder) and will be released by Lionsgate sometime in 2011.

After years of pre-production nothingness the producers and director Marcus Nispel have finally cast their Conan: Jason Momoa. The actor has previously had roles in Baywatch and Stargate: Atlantis, so this will be his first lead in a movie. According to Deadline Hollywood he beat off competition from New Moon actor Kellan Lutz, and “won over the filmmakers by shooting a few trial scenes that allowed Momoa to wield a sword and behave very Schwarzenegger-like.”

Latino Review also have some potentially cool Conan casting news. Apparently an offer has been sent Mickey Rourke to play Conan’s father, Corin. I have no idea what the character is like, however it’s Mickey Rourke so his badass self will probably be great for the role.

Conan will begin filming in Bulgaria in March, which gives Jason Momoa around 8 weeks to bulk up.

The upcoming Conan movie is slowly working it’s way into production and today a casting call has found it’s way online and it contains a list of characters that will appear in the film along with details of the plot. Apparently the producers aren’t looking for a big name actor to play Conan, which is probably the best way to go.

From MovieHole:

[ CONAN ] He’s in his 20s to early 30s, Caucasian, powerfully built, broad-shouldered, sun browned skin lined with scars. Piercing blue eyes and square-cut black mane, tall. He is a savage killer that has matured into the refinement his father tried to teach him when he was young. Conan is very smart, almost inhumanly strong, and very cunning. His entire life, from the moment of his birth, has been shaped by violence. Being the last of his tribe and having to watch his father die a cruel death, he is determined avenge his peoples slaughter by killing all those who led the attack on the Cimmerians, including the all-powerful Khalar Singh. He is prepared to die in order to accomplish his goal. What Conan did not expect, was to find a reason to live? LEAD

[ TAMARA ] She is 18 to 24 years old, Caucasian or Middle Eastern, open to all ethnicities; beautiful, studious, correct, a novitiate of a Greek influenced monastery. A master of martial arts, she has been trained to be the Queen’s servant, bodyguard and best friend. She and many other female bodyguards to the queen have been in hiding most of their lives because of the curse of Acheron, which would take the queen’s life to bring almost immortal power to its king. When Khalar Singh, a powerful warlord with ambitions to become the king of Acheron, storms the monastery and captures all of the novitiates, she is separated from Ilira, the one she must protect. With all of her strength and will, Tamara is determined to find and rescue her. She finds herself in league with Conan because of a mutual need to find Khalar Singh. She is not in the least intimidated by Conan’s size or grim demeanor and their alliance eventually blossoms into something that surprises them both? LEAD

You can read the rest by clicking here!

Conan will begin filming next February in Bulgaria and will be directed by Marcus Nispel (Pathfinder). At the moment I don’t really have high hopes for this, but it’s still early days yet.

Things have been quiet on the Red Sonja front for a while. A few posters were released last year, but then producer Robert Rodriguez and Rose McGowan split. Then they got back together, and now McGowan has taken to her Twitter account to give an update on what’s happening:

To clarify press reports: Red Sonja is delayed. I pulled out of doing it in ‘09. Not permanently. Hopefully will follow Conan.

I am still contracted to do Red Sonja. Hopefully Filming in ‘10 not ‘09

I’ll take a guess that she pulled out because of the split, however Filmonic isn’t a gossip site so I’ll leave it at that. Back in June producer Joe Gatta also said that it would probably start filming next year:

“Because of certain issues and the economy, we had to change our plan a bit,” executive producer Joe Gatta told Empire Magazine . “It’s frustrating because we thought we’d make the movie last year, before Conan.”

Even last month, Gatta explained that Sonja was going to have to wait until after production on “Conan.” As he explained to Empire: “I would say though the emphasis is on Conan [rather than Red Sonja]. It’s our crown jewel here at the company and that will be the leader. Red Sonja probably won’t happen until next year, as far as making it goes. So we want to launch Conan and reinvent the franchise.”

Out of the two i’m not exactly eager to see either film, however I’d probably take Conan over Red Sonja. I also think there are better actresses who could play the character (forget what I said about Filmonic not being a gossip site. McGown only got the part because she’s hooked up with Robert Rodriguez).

Empire got the chance to speak with Conan producer Joe Gatta who revealed that Brett Ratner is no longer directing the Conan reboot, and that they are currently looking for someone else to direct.

“We’re currently in the process of hiring a director,” he told us. “For the past six months we were discussing the movie with Brett Ratner, and for more timing issues than anything else we had to part ways with Brett. We all wanted him to do it, believe me; just the timing didn’t work. But you never know what can happen.”

However, having no director hasn’t stopped them from setting a start date:

“We have a potential start-date on Conan of August 24. And we’ll be shooting in Bulgaria. I would say though the emphasis is on Conan [rather than Red Sonja]. It’s our crown jewel here at the company and that will be the leader. Red Sonja probably won’t happen until next year, as far as making it goes. So we want to launch Conan and reinvent the franchise.”

As for the hiring of Conan himself, you might want to start pumping some serious iron: Gatta says that, “We’ll have an open casting call: as soon as we hire our director the search is on.”

Personally I didn’t think Ratner was the best director for the project. Whoever they eventually hire will give us a clear idea which direction they are heading. Will it be faithful gritty reboot or a commerical popcorn flick?

Behind the scenes of Sasha Baron Cohen’s Bruno [FilmDrunk]

10 Greatest George W. Bush Moments [ScreenJunkies]

A new poster for the upcoming Street Fighter movie [ComingSoon]

Movie Mash-Ups We’d Like To See [HolyTaco]

Daniel Craig wants the next Bond to be black [DigitalSpy]

Brett Ratner is in final negotiations to direct Conan [THR]

According to Dread Central Nu Image, the people behind the Conan remake, are threatening to put Brett Ratner in the directors chair. This is the same Brett Ratner who a few weeks ago wanted to make a Guitar Hero movie. It is also the same Brett Ratner who directs music videos for Jessica Simpson, Mariah Carey and Miley Cyrus.

We got word today that Nu Image is offering the long-awaited new Conan movie to, of all people, Brett Ratner. Over the years there have been so directors circling this project, everyone from Robert Rodriguez to Rob Zombie, the fact that Brett Ratner might actually attach himself to this and make it a reality is almost enough to make one wish they’d just stop trying to bring Robert E. Howard’s creation back to the big screen.

Lets hope this is pure lies and another director gets attached soon. (Anyone will be an improvement…anyone!)

ToxicShock got a new teaser poster for Conan, which you can see below. It’s nothing much, just a boulder being impaled by a sword, which I’m pretty sure it doesn’t appreciate.

Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain are currently working on the script and Lionsgate are fast tracking the movie which is expected to be R rated.

Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain, writers of Alien vs. Viking epic Outlander, have been hired to rework the script for Conan. The writers have gone back to Howard’s original stories to create a $100 million R-rated origin film, the largest production to date for Lionsgate and Millennium.

Paradox Entertainment president and CEO Fredrik Malmberg said:

“We all want this movie to go into production as soon as possible,” Malmberg said. “It’s a fast-tracked movie. Lionsgate felt the process was enhanced by having a second team come in and do a script.”

“Fans expect (these types of movies) to be more true to the source material,” Malmberg said. “There’s no reason there couldn’t be a Conan movie every two years. He’s almost like Batman: He’s a dark hero. He’s a hard hero. He has to be badass, but we also have to like him.”

So that’s Conan, Thor, He-Man and two Hercules movies on the way. I can see why they have fast-tracked it, because I am sure people will get tired after we see 3+ movies released with huge men on steroids wielding a sword around.

Although, I suppose now is a good time to be a body-builder in Hollywood!