Conan Producers Reportedly Have Three Actors In Mind; Only One Is From Twilight

Hey, remember that new Conan movie? Marcus Nispel is directing, and it is meant to begin shooting in about two months. Funny, though...we haven't heard anything about who's playing Conan. Evidently the right actor isn't so easy to find, which is why production is currently slated for March after being bumped twice, first from August '09 to February of this year, then from February to March. There have been rumors about who might be the new Conan, but nothing yet confirmed.

But there's light at the end of the tunnel, as producers reportedly have three names in mind. We know two of them. If you don't recognize the faces above, the names are after the break.

Deadline Hollywood, which is really making a case for Variety's obsolescence, reports that Nu Image/Millennium had narrowed the list down to two:  Kellan Lutz (from the Twilight films, the new 90210 and A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Jason Momoa (from Stargate: Atlantis). Now, however, their pool has been expanded to three. Who's the new guy? Mike Fleming at Deadline Hollywood doesn't know, but cites "another unnamed but better established actor."

With half-Hawaiian heritage, Momoa certainly has a different look for Conan. He's huge and can look frightening as hell, but I don't know his Stargate work, so can't offer any opinion from an acting perspective. Not being a Conan purist, I like his look better for the Cimmerian warrior. Kellan Lutz looks like pure corn-fed American beefcake. Bronze him up and throw on a dark wig and he'd probably look the part, though. He's not in Twilight much, but he is in the movies, and that's probably enough to give him an edge. (Don't think so? Ellen's screaming audience suggests otherwise.) Without knowing the third name it's hard to make any predictions on what to expect. If the mystery man doesn't bite, however, expect it to go to Lutz.

What are Nispel and the producers looking for? According to one casting breakdown, this is their 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...

(One note: the Deadline Hollywood article, which is mostly concerned with rumors about Nu Image/Millennium execs, opens with "In the indie pre-sale world where Nu Image/Millennium Films operates, it's often hard to discern fact from fiction." Some of you may hope that applies to the casting info as well.)