According to the Hollywood Reporter the oft-delayed new Conan live action feature film is not dead, in fact the Reporter indicates that Warner Bros. Production President Jeff Robinov 'is committed to producing the film within the next year.'  Conan fans who had to endure the thought of Triple H impersonating the sword-wielding Cimmerian (see 'Grappler to Play Conan'), can rest easy since Warners, having already revived the Batman franchise and currently in the midst of doing the same with Superman, is not about do Conan on the cheap.

According to the Reporter, Robinov is going back to the original Robert E. Howard stories for inspiration.  He told the HR's Anne Thompson: 'I love the character -- it all depends on how the character is realized and the execution of the movie.  You hope to satisfy the fan base and the broader audience.  There has always been a fan base for the Conan character.  So many years have gone by.  You have to get to the core of who the Conan character was.'

A feature length Conan film would be good news for pop culture retailers since there are a wealth of tie-in products available, ranging from Dark Horse's successful Conan comic book series, to Del Rey's new editions of the classic Conan story collections, to the Conan RPG from Mongoose (see 'Mongoose To Publish Conan RPG'), and a a new collectible card game due out in December from Comic Images (see 'Conan Collectible Card Game').