Arnold Schwarzenegger has long-claimed he’d return to the role of Conan the Barbarian and now we have it straight from the Destroyer’s mouth, with the Austrian Oak claiming that Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie has been hired to write and direct a sequel.
The news comes courtesy of TheArnoldFans, who were attending the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, when the Terminator actor stated that as-well-as potentially returning to the Predator franchise following his animated cameo in Killer of Killers, and the revelation that there was a new script for Commando 2, he would be travelling back to the Hyborian Age for a Conan sequel.
“They just hired a fantastic writer/director who did Tom Cruise’s last four movies,” said Arnold. “They just hired him (Christopher McQuarrie) to write and direct King Conan.”
“With King Conan, its a great old story that Conan was forty years as King and now he gets forced out of the kingdom and there’s conflict, of course, but somehow he comes back and there’s all kinds of madness, violence, magic and creatures and stuff like that. And now, of course, there’s all kinds of special effects. The studio has plenty of money to make those movies really big so I’m looking forward to all of those projects.”
A muscle-clad sword and sorcery hero created by American Author Robert E. Howard, Conan first appeared in 1932 and went on to appear in magazines, books, and comics before making his film debut in the 1982 John Milius-directed fantasy Conan the Barbarian. It was a big hit, raking in approximately $70 million worldwide and spawning a sequel, 1984’s Conan the Destroyer, which only managed to eke out $31 million. A 2011 Jason Momoa-headlined reboot suffered a similar fate, stalling with just $63 million worldwide.
SEE ALSO: Is the King of Action Back? Arnold’s Triumphant Return to Conan, Commando and Predator
Schwarzenegger’s claims regarding McQuarrie have since been confirmed as accurate in a report from trade outlet Deadline, so let us know whether you’re excited to see Arnie return as King Conan by heading to our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Originally published March 9, 2026. Updated March 10, 2026.
