Conan the Barbarian is a 2011 American sword and sorcery film based on the character of the same name created by Robert E. Howard.

It stars Jason Momoa in the title role, alongside Rachel Nichols, Rose McGowan, Stephen Lang, Ron Perlman, and Bob Sapp, with Marcus Nispel directing.

Lionsgate and Sony Pictures entered negotiations for distribution, with the film seeing many directors, prominently Brett Ratner, before settling on Nispel in 2009 and subsequently bringing together a cast and crew.

One day, Conan's village is attacked by Khalar Zym, a warlord who wishes to reunite the Mask of Acheron to revive his dead wife Maliva, an evil sorceress, and conquer Hyboria.

The mask, crafted by sorcerers and used to subjugate the world, was broken into pieces and scattered among the barbarian tribes to prevent unification.

In the city of Messantia, he meets Ela-Shan, a thief being chased by Lucius, one of Zym's soldiers that Conan recognizes from his village's slaughter.

Torturing him, Conan learns that Zym seeks the female pureblood descendant of the sorcerers of Acheron to unleash the mask's power.

Boaz Yakin was hired in 2006 to start again, however, in June 2007 the rights reverted to Paradox Entertainment, though all drafts made under Warner remained with them.

Paradox's CEO Fredrik Malmberg told Variety "we have great respect for Warner Bros., but after seven years, we came to the point where we needed to see progress to production."

Paradox were auctioning the rights after and various groups took interest in producing, including New Line Cinema, Hollywood Gang, and Millennium Films.

Nu Image/Millennium founders Lerner and Danny Dimbort were set to fully finance the film at an estimated $100 million.

[12] With a brief effort of developing Red Sonja with Rose McGowan as the lead, Robert Rodriguez had mentioned in July 2008 he had been in discussions to produce Conan also.

[13] Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain were announced in August to have been hired for a re-write of the script, with the intention of returning to the original source material and in the desire of making an R-rated film.

He was enrolled in an intense six-week training programme at a stunt and martial arts academy in Los Angeles for his part, while still finalising negotiations for the film.

When Khalar finally corners him and tortures him to death, he shows no regret nor pain, hiding his concern for his son's safety from the eyes of the enemy.

When Khalar Zym, a powerful warlord with ambitions to become the king of Acheron, storms the monastery and captures all of the novitiates, she is separated from Ilira, the one she must protect.

"[29] Stephen Lang plays Khalar Zym, described to be "commanding in size and manner, a warlord and formidable warrior, brilliant, cruel, weathered and tanned by the many campaigns he has waged and won.

McGowan attempted to inject an Electra complex for the character, noting: “Initially, that obsession with trying to seduce her father was not scripted; it was something that the writer and I talked about quite a bit.

[34] The Bulgarian shooting locations were Nu Boyana Film Studios, Bolata, Pobiti Kamani, Bistritsa, Zlatnite Mostove, Pernik, and Vitosha.

[citation needed] In its first weekend, Conan made $10,021,215 in 3,015 theaters and opened at #4 in the United States domestic box office.

The website's consensus states: "While its relentless, gory violence is more faithful to the Robert E. Howard books, Conan the Barbarian forsakes three-dimensional characters, dialogue, and acting in favor of unnecessary 3D effects.

Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "it is with a certain amount of guilt that I say it's kind of a wicked blast to watch.

"[44] Scott Weinberg of Twitchfilm.com stated, "Some action scenes are tighter and more cohesive than others, but there's little denying that Nispel's Conan moves like a shot, tosses a lot of hardcore lunacy at the screen, and shows a decent amount of respect for basic matinée action-fests."

Although criticizing the stock characters and cliché-ridden script, Variety magazine also gave a mildly positive review, stating "With all earnestness, Nispel embraces the property's classic roots, placing this new Conan squarely within the tradition of sword-and-sorcery pics.

Shaun Smith and Scott Wheeler's work on the film was nominated at the Saturn Awards for Best Make-Up, but lost to X-Men: First Class.