Arnold Schwarzenegger shooting new 'Conan' in NZ

Fans of Arnie's Conan films have wanted the barbarian back on screen for years, and Schwarzenegger has revealed that this is not only very close to happening but may be shot here in New Zealand.

In an interview with Ain't It Cool News to promote his new film The Last Stand, Schwarzenegger said that he'd been battling Universal for a decade to get back on screen as Conan. "I have asked them now for the last ten years to get serious about the Conan series and to not look at it as a B-movie or just a cheap action movie" he told Ain't It Cool. Instead he wants the studio to look at it like any quality movie, hiring the best directors and the best writers. With the studio's agreement on these points, a script is being written now that will portray an older Conan so that Schwarzenegger doesn't come off, as he puts it, like he's "trying to be a 30-year-old action guy".

Even more exciting is the revelation that the shoot may happen here. According to Schwarzenegger, "one of the places they're looking very closely right now is Jackson's studio in New Zealand". He says the studio are rushing to get this underway - "they really want to get it done, so they want to start shooting sometime around the end of this year".

We're looking forward to this being confirmed, and then the inevitable brilliance of a photo op with our Prime Minister...

Here's the relevant part of the interview: