If you're not a fan of Stargate: Atlantis, you probably won't have a clue who Jason Momoa is. That is about to change though with the 28-year-old actor set to break out of the clutches of sci-fi television and enter a whole new, bigger realm of geekdom: fantasy film blockbusters adapted from comic books.
Momoa is currently on the set of the highly-anticipated Conan remake, as none other than the lead himself. So he is also filling some mighty big shoes - or big fluffy boots - that were once worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan The Barbarian (1982) and Conan The Destroyer (1984).
No doubt Momoa is hoping Conan can do for him what it did for the Austrian bodybuilder and now California governor, and follow the path into action movie megastardom.
Judging by these shots taken during filming in Bulgaria, and come courtesy of The Cimmerian, Momoa certainly looks the part as the barbarian hero out for revenge who was created by Texan Robert E. Howard and made his first appearance in a 1932 series of fantasy stories in Weird Tales magazine. Conan eventually got his own Marvel comic book series in 1970.
One can imagine how difficult it is to cast a character like Conan, needing someone big and bulky but also have enough acting chops to carry an entire film on his broad shoulders, but producers appear to have done a reasonable job.
This latest cinematic incarnation from reboot kings Lionsgate is being directed by German Marcus Nispel (Pathfinder, Friday the 13th) after Brett Ratner dropped out of the project last year.
Taken from a Conan casting call the movie will begin with Khalar Singh, an old friend of Conan's father, Corin, arriving in Cimmeria seeking Corin's help in finding Ilira, the 'Lost Queen of Acheron'. When Corin refuses, Khalar and his Aquilonian mercenaries attack. Corin and the other Cimmerians are killed but Conan escapes. Conan becomes a thief and eventually seeks revenge against Khalar for killing his father. In the meantime, Khalar has found and captured Ilira on his own but her bodyguard Tamara escapes. Tamara meets Conan and they both travel to Khalar's city, Khor Khala.
The film features several 'name' actors and actresses with the always watchable Ron Perlman (Hellboy) as Corin, and Stephen Lang, fresh from a heavy-handed role in Avatar as Col. Quaritch, will be at it again as the ruthless Khalar Singh.
Interestingly, Rose McGowan who was attached to a remake of Red Sonja - an acquaintance of Conan who got first got her own feature film in 1985 with Brigitte Nielsen in the lead role - also co-stars as Marique, a half human, half witch, while Rachel Nichols, who played Scarlett O'Hara in last year's GI Joe: Rise of Cobra, is the love interest, Tamara.
Conan is set to be released in 2011.
