Arnold Schwarzenegger is 77 years old, and he's teasing returns to three of his most iconic roles: Conan, Dutch from Predator, and John Matrix from Commando. Most actors his age are doing Lifetime Christmas movies. Arnold wants to fight aliens and barbarians. You've got to respect the commitment.
The most intriguing project is King Conan, which now has Christopher McQuarrie attached as writer-director. This matters. McQuarrie isn't some hired gun brought in to cash a check. He's the architect of the modern Mission: Impossible films, a filmmaker who understands how to make aging action stars look mythic rather than desperate.
King Conan has been in development hell for decades. John Milius wanted to make it after Conan the Destroyer. It never happened. Various scripts have circulated over the years, all imagining an older Conan as king of Aquilonia, dealing with the responsibilities of rule rather than the freedom of adventure. It's Logan for barbarians.
McQuarrie could make this work. He understands mythology (see: Edge of Tomorrow's time-loop Valhalla). He can shoot practical action that feels visceral. And he's proven with Tom Cruise that you can build compelling action around an aging star without making age itself a punchline.
The Predator and Commando returns are more speculative. Schwarzenegger mentioned them in interviews, but there's no concrete development. has become a franchise without , for better or worse. is harder to imagine—that film works specifically because was an unstoppable physical force. Can you remake that with a septuagenarian?
