Mickey Rourke to play Conans papa

Boy, when Mickey Rourke makes a comeback, he’s not exactly backwards in coming forwards.

Already having wrapped shooting of Passion Play with Megan Fox, Sly's Expendables and Jon Favreau’s Iron Man 2 (below), Rourke’s reportedly in talks to take on another high profile role as the father of the new Conan.

Directed by Marcus Nispel, the Conan script is currently being given a final rewrite by Sean Hood (bad move? This is the guy who gave us the brain-bashingly bad Halloween: Resurrection ). The original script was scribbled by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer ( Sahara ).

Jason Momoa stars as Conan, who goes on a quest to get revenge for the slaughter of his people – and his father.

Rourke was in negotiations for the part earlier this year but the deal fell apart. Seems he’s still keen on the role, though, as he’s come back to renegotiate with Lionsgate.

Production on Conan commences on 15 March in Bulgaria.

The big man is also reportedly in talks to star opposite Freida Pinto in War Of The Gods as King Hyperion. But with that film set to shoot in April, could there be a scheduling clash? And, if so, which project will Rourke favour?

Conan or Gods ? Where's your money placed?

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.