Yes, Jason Momoa Knows His Conan The Barbarian Movie 'Really Sucked'
The 2011 "Conan the Barbarian" movie reboot had a fair amount going for it. There was Jason Momoa playing another scowling, muscular dude who's exceptionally good at killing things and mostly communicates in grunts (mere months after his breakout turn as Khal Drogo on "Game of Thrones"). Director Marcus Nispel, like Momoa, was also comfortably in his wheelhouse re-imagining writer Robert E. Howard's pulpy fantasy antihero for the big screen nearly 30 years after John Milius and Arnold Schwarzenegger's sweeping 1982 film epic "Conan the Barbarian." Even the film's teaser poster paid homage to Frank Frazetta's illustrious paintings of Howard's sword-swinging Cimmerian, suggesting this return to the Hyborian Age would honor its source material's bloody B-movie spirit.
Alas, it wasn't meant to be. The actual movie received a well-earned smack-down from critics for its thinly-sketched characters, uninspired world-building, and for otherwise being a boring slog — the worst sin a would-be gonzo swords-and-sorcery action-adventure could commit. General audiences were equally unimpressed, with "Conan the Barbarian" only taking home $63.4 million at the box office against a $90 million budget.
Momoa, for his part, has never attempted to hide his own disappointment in how the film turned out. Nor, for that matter, did the "Aquaman" and "Fast X" actor mince words when the topic came up during an interview he gave to GQ Magazine in August 2022:
"I've been a part of a lot of things that really sucked, and movies where it's out of your hands. 'Conan [the Barbarian]' was one of them. It's one of the best experiences I had and it [was] taken over and turned into a big pile of s***."
A sense of victory in a defeat
Was the "Conan the Barbarian" film reboot always doomed to fail? The early 2010s weren't a prosperous time for retro pulp fantasy IPs in general. Even having Disney in its corner wasn't enough to save "John Carter" from becoming a financial disaster just one year after "Conan." One could also point the finger of blame at Marcus Nispel — the director of Platinum Dunes' "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Friday the 13th" remakes — or co-writers Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, and Sean Hood, whose collective credits include notorious stinkers like "A Sound of Thunder," "Dylan Dog: Dead of Night," and "Halloween: Resurrection."
In a statement to People responding to Jason Momoa's GQ comments, Nispel echoed the actor's sentiments about the movie while also praising him. Nispel similarly insinuated that "Conan the Barbarian" was ultimately a film that had too many cooks in the kitchen during its development:
"As a filmmaker in this system, you are a dog on many leashes. Trying to get 'Conan' done under those circumstances was the worst experience that I had and I was as unhappy with the result. I am happy though that none of this got in the way of Jason's career path. [...] I always stood by the decision to make 'Conan' with him."
Whatever the case, Momoa took steps to avoid being type-cast after "Conan" and it greatly benefitted his career, paving the way to him becoming the big name he is today. Perhaps Nispel put it best:
"My friend John Milius once said: 'There is always a sense of defeat in every victory.' In regards to having had the pleasure and privilege of having given Jason his first leading part, I say: 'There can also be a sense of victory in a defeat.'"