Last week we reported on a rumour that American Gladiator Titan may be up for the lead role in a new Conan movie, and while that may have just been a bit of wishful thinking on his part, we now have confirmation this week that Lionsgate are definitely fast-tracking the project. They’ve hired Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain to do a rewrite on the script, and are currently in search of a director.

Paradox Entertainment CEO Fredrik Malmberg had this to say: “We all want this movie to go into production as soon as possible. It’s a fast-tracked movie. Lionsgate felt the process was enhanced by having a second team come in and do a script.” He also 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.”

Clearly they’re looking at this as a franchise reboot… Conan Begins anyone? Blackman and McCain are the team behind the sci-fi Viking flick Outlander, and although I was kind of down on the movie’s craptastic trailer, these guys sound like the right fit for Conan. I certainly trust them more than the duo who wrote the previous draft, Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer (Sahara, A Sound of Thunder). What I’m even more interested in, however, is the other movie that Blackman and McCain are developing called Amazon, about a female “gladiatrix” starring Scarlett Johansson. After hearing that, Rose McGowan’s Red Sonja just became a lot less cool!