Lionsgate Goes For Conan

Nu Image/Millennium Films has made a North American distribution rights deal with Lionsgate for a new film series based on the Robert E. Howard-created character Conan the Barbarian. The first film will be written by the team of Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer ("Sahara," "Cowboys & Aliens"). Pic will be produced by Lerner, Boaz Davidson, Joe Gatta, Paradox Entertainment's Fredrick Malmberg, George Furla and Henry Winterstern. Trevor Short and Dimbort are exec producers. Pic is earmarked to begin production later this year, but the start date will depend on the resolution of the writers strike.