Conan the Barbarian: The Official Story of the Film

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Conan The Barbarian The Official Story of the Film

Author	John Walsh
Illustrator
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Fantasy film
Publisher	Titan Books
Publication date	August 8, 2023
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	176 (First edition, hardcover)
ISBN	9781803361765 Search this book on . (First edition, hardcover)

Conan The Barbarian The Official Story of the Film is the sixth book by John Walsh published August 8, 2023. This is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film Conan The Barbarian from 1982. An American epic sword and sorcery film directed by John Milius and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. This large format coffee table-style book follows tells the story of how the original stories based on the Robert E. Howard series were adapted for cinema audiences.

Walsh had previously written Harryhausen: The Lost Movies, Flash Gordon: The Official Story of the Film, Escape From New York: The Official Story of the Film and Dr Who and the Daleks: The Official Story of the Films. Walsh is a five-time Rondo Award nominee for Book of the Year, 2020, 2021 , 2022, 2023 and 2024

Overview

The Hollywood Reporter first announced the book on June 21, 2022, as part of a wider rights deal with Conan rights holder for reissues of comic books and novels based on the character by Robert E Howard with British publisher Titan Books.

Starburst Magazine discussed the materials found, including “artwork from the legendary Frank Frazetta is presented beautifully in full-page reproductions that show how the character was envisaged for the sixties book covers. Other stunning illustrations come from production designer Ron Cobb’s paintings and illustrations that helped the film look so distinctive. Likewise, all aspects of the film’s creation – and those that made the magic come alive – are covered with some rare reproductions of sketches and the like.

Empire Magazine reveals what could have been made with the film’s original director. “The first attempt to bring the character to screen came in the late 1970s, when Oliver Stone first wrote a screenplay. Little of that script, written in a "drug-fever dream", actually made it to the screen, but in Walsh's telling, it sounds wild: Stone conceived of Conan battling a Dante's Inferno-esque army of 20,000 pig mutants, insect demons, "hyena heads", and more. His version would have cost $100 million - an unthinkable budget at the time.”

The Spanish language review site ‘Negativa’ mentions the European locations uncovered by the book. “John Walsh 's book, as expected, comes to us full of information about the filming of the film, whose production was moved to Spain after a failed attempt to film in Yugoslavia, but he does very well in starting by putting the character in context.”

‘Borg.com’ revealed who had taken part from the original production. “Interviews with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Oliver Stone, John Milius, and Raffaella De Laurentiis.” Borg.com also commended the depth of the book’s investigations. “A recurring theme is basing parts of the film on Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. The balance was excising the X-rated elements of the original Howard stories and telling a story that felt like a lived-in, real-life place. The filmmakers said they approached it at times like a historical account, including language elements and cultural crossovers including the Asian and Arabian worlds.”

‘Blazing Minds’ commented on the book’s physical design: “The dust cover looks amazing with its art, and underneath that is a faux leather look cover brandishing a shiny silver sword.”

‘SciFi Bulletin’ discussed the book’s chapter on the original unmade film planned by Oliver Stone. “We learn about the years taken to develop the movie at one stage Oliver Stone wrote an ‘unfilmable’ drug-fuelled script.”

‘Horror Cult Film’ focussed on the part traditional visual effects played in the film’s production. “But we also get a lot that very few will have seen; the “old school” special effects lover in me really loved pictures showing the combining of models and matte paintings, some of which I’d never realised were actually models and matte paintings because they were so good.”

‘SciFi Pulse’ looked at the impracticalities of Oliver Stone's original screenplay. “Stone’s screenplay was never viewed as filmable as it was very much ahead of its time with Orcs and many of the fantasy staples that moviegoers would not get to see until the 2000s in The Lord of The Rings trilogy.”

‘Forces of Geek’ said the book had, “Brand new interviews with cast and crew, as well behind-the-scenes photography from the set and concept art created for the production, give fascinating insights into the development of one of the best-loved fantasy films of the 1980s.”

Publication

Published in August 2023 by Titan Books.

When the book was shown in advance at San Diego Comic-Con in 2023, it was released with a limited-edition enamel pin only available to those who bought their copy from Titan Books at the event.

Gizmodo was the first to reveal some of the exclusive images the book uncovered August 8 2023.

Walsh signed copies at Forbidden Planet London on November 4th 2023.

Walsh was part of the Arrow Films The Conan Chronicles Limited Edition 4k restoration blu rays released in February 2024, which included two interviews with Walsh about the book and the two Conan films from the 1980s, Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984) and a new essay on the unmade film entitled King Conan.

External links

• Conan the Barbarian: The Official Story of the Film on IMDb Search this movie on
• Author’s website
• Publisher’s website
• Conan the Barbarian: The Official Story of the Film on IMDb
• John Walsh on Twitter (official)

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