I’ve often lamented that, despite there being no less than four films released which claim to be based on his work, none could truly be considered an adaptation. The world of television was not much better, with the three Conan programs virtually unrecognizable as Howard’s creation. It would seem that despite the hundreds of stories and eighty years’ worth of influence on many genres of fiction, there hadn’t been a single professional adaptation of a Robert E. Howard story.

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Looks like a final piece of news for The Cimmerian, at least for the month of May: according to TheOneRing.Net, Guillermo Del Toro is apparently leaving production of the upcoming film adaptations of The Hobbit.

This doesn’t come as a surprise to me. The financial and legal wrangling going about the project looked like they weren’t going to be over anytime soon, and with over two years going, I can’t blame Del Toro from moving on. While I think Del Toro may have surprised us with the films, Jackson (pictured above with Del Toro) & company are still in control, and that will always be a source of intense division among fans.

The question now becomes, who will step up to the plate in Del Toro’s absence?

It would've been nice to have "Robert E. Howard" on the side of the bus, but hey, it's something, right?

It’s been a few months since Solomon Kane came to European screens, but with the fight to get it on American screens (so Howard fans across the pond can praise or condemn as they will) still raging on, there’s the danger of things simmering down too much, and the wave of critical acclaim and controversy over the character from the Howard community dying down.

Well, leave it to Michael Moorcock to start splashing those waters again.

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Robert Rodriguez

Only a short while after the sad news of Frank Frazetta passing, many have reflected on the man’s impact on the worlds of television, film, music and art. One of the most ambitious was his collaboration with Ralph Bakshi, Fire and Ice. Among the fans of that rotoscoped extravaganza are director Robert Rodriguez and Harry Knowles. The long-haired, bearded, bespectacled (no relation) master of Aint-it-Cool-News talked with Rodriguez recently, where he announces he has gained the rights to Fire and Ice.

In addition to this new news, Rodriguez talked about Machete (where he likens Danny Trejo’s character to his take on Frazetta’s Conan) and Frank Frazetta himself.  A fan of Frazetta taking control of one of Bakshi’s most celebrated films, and so infused with Frazetta’s art and style that it might as well be called Frazetta: The Movie? I’m guardedly excited. Read all about it here.

In the wake of Miguel’s amazing scoop on the new pictures of Jason Momoa as “Conan,” Lionsgate really have to up their game before even more blurry photographs from camera phones and film festivals predicate official releases. In the meantime, Stephen Lang spoke to MTV about the film.*

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Here, to my knowledge, are the latest leaked pictures of Jason Momoa as Conan, or to be more accurate what you can contemplate are photos of photos taken at Cannes. The Film Festival started yesterday in that seaside city of Southern France, which hosts numerous screenings, market discussions and the like in addition to the official competition.

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Generally, first shots make an important impact in the buzz for a film. Be they tantalizing glimpses of the set, blurry images of actors in costume, or even a prop lying around, early shots do a lot to generate excitement about a project. Of course, the reverse can also be true: sometimes early pictures can be underwhelming, laughable, or scandalous.

The first photos from the set of “Conan” are out, as well as the first pictures of Jason Momoa (pictured above with an ecstatic fan) as our favourite Cimmerian. What can they tell us about the direction of the film?

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The upcoming DragonCon has become a lot more interesting for Robert E. Howard and Conan fans:

New guests have been added to DragonCon’s guest list, and another has been hinted at, but not yet confirmed. First up is one of my favorites, Jason Momoa, who played the character Ronan Dex in the SyFy series Stargate: Atlantis. He has also been chosen to play the title character in the reboot of Conan the Barbarian.

Anyone eager to meet The Man Who Would Be Conan can do so this September in Atlanta:

Dragon*Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe!

This year, Dragon*Con will be held Labor Day weekend (September 3–6, 2010) in Atlanta, GA.

Man, if only I could be there to pose questions to Jason: what was his favourite Conan story, his favourite quotation or moment from the tales, his favourite non-Conan Howard story, what he thought of the poems, things like that. By September, it’s likely the first production pictures of Momoa as “Conan” will have surfaced, leading to much renewed interest in the project. I foresee that interviews from most outlets would be more interested in making moronic Arnold comparisons and asking what it’s like working with the bad guy from Avatar than getting an insight into how Momoa approached the world’s most famous Cimmerian. It’s largely up to Howard fans to get in there with questions that we want answers for, instead of hoping TMZ or MTV ask Momoa what he thought of Conan’s relationship with Bêlit, or his views regarding ”The Phoenix on the Sword” and “The Tower of the Elephant.”

Hopefully any Howard fans going to Dragon*Con will be able to chat to Jason, and report their experiences to Howard fandom at large, maybe even capture it on video if possible. It would be nice to get some further confirmation that the cast are reading REH’s tales in Bulgaria, however little it might help the story. It’d certainly cheer my heart to hear Momoa quoting a real Conan yarn.

Among Steve Tompkins’ many interesting blog entries written here on The Cimmerian, there was this piece about Lovecraft-inspired motions pictures.  The movie he was looking forward to see (as I am), Del Toro’s At the Mountains of Madness, is not even in production yet, but another story written by the Man from Providence should make it to the silver screen sooner. Thanks to Grim Blogger, I learned a few days ago that the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society had released a new trailer for their adaptation of  Howard Phillips Lovecraft‘s horror/science-fiction short story first published in the August 1931 issue of Weird Tales, ”The Whisperer in Darkness.” The film is supposed to be released in October.

Beware, Howard fans, viewing the video embedded in this blog post (thanks to shieldbrother Al for helping out someone who is only semi-literate with computers) might be painful. To see the (impressive) effort of a bunch of enthusiasts, who are genuinely caring for the source material, with this attempt to adapt their favorite’s author creation into film format, is something we’re not accustomed too. No compromise, no update of the story to a contemporary setting in a lame effort to please a modern audience; just the honest attempt to adapt faithfully on the silver screen what was written in the tale. In short, a purist’s dream come true. Exactly what has always been needed for movies based on Robert E. Howard’s stories, and never been supplied. When will the Texan’s tales get this kind of treatment?

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William Stout's concept art for the dreaded Wheel of Pain

I’m sure some might be enjoying the break I’ve taken from reporting on the upcoming “Conan” film–Crom knows it’s done wonders for my blood pressure–but the most recent news is worth reporting, seeing as Howard heavyweight Patrice Louinet has more to say.

While Patrice cannot divulge much in the way of specifics, what he can reveal is nonetheless very interesting. First, though, let’s get up to date.

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