Terminator’s Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced the filming window for King Conan. The project revives the role that launched his career more than four decades ago.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s King Conan to start filming next year

The long-gestating sequel to Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer has cleared big hurdles. Now, Schwarzenegger confirmed the production timeline and revealed that Christopher McQuarrie, known for directing Mission: Impossible films, is attached to do the same for the upcoming movie.

“Next year we are going to do King Conan. So that is a reality now and I am excited about it.” That statement locks principal photography for 2027, pushing a potential release date in 2028. Arnold Schwarzenegger further addressed the years of false starts that frustrated fans, explaining his insistence on getting the foundation right before cameras rolled.

“For the last ten years I have been saying, ‘we should do King Conan, and we should get a great script written, get someone who really understands Rober E. Howard, that understands the artwork of Frank Frazetta and to continue on.’ I want to have John Milius, the director of Conan 1, to be maybe the producer. So, it will be really fantastic,” he told TheArnoldFans.

The core premise rests on an older king who has ruled for 40 years, grown weary of the throne, and now faces challengers who see his age as weakness. “The movie wouldn’t have worked after I did the first Conan because the whole idea of King Conan is that for 40 years he has been king, he is older now. Look at the movie by Clint Eastwood, The Unforgiven. It will be a lot like that but it will be with extraordinary battles,” Schwarzenegger explained.

For now, no casting details for King Conan have been announced. With the 2027 shoot now confirmed, a 2028 theatrical release appears the logical target for a comeback decades in the making.