Ron Perlman, star of the Hellboy franchise, Marg Helgenberger of CSI, and James Marsden (Cyclops in the X-Men films) will voice the major roles in the first feature-length animated Conan film, Conan: Red Nails.  The legendary W. Michael Kaluta is the new movie's key concept designer, with Mark Schultz (Cadillacs & Dinosaurs) adding additional designs for the 2D/3D film, which Victor Dal Chele (Spider-Man, The New Adventures of Johnny Quest) will direct from a screenplay by Steve Gold and Timothy Dolan.  New Line Home Entertainment has acquired all North American distribution rights and plans to release Conan: Red Nails on DVD sometime in 2006.

The Conan: Red Nails animated feature is about to move from the 'design and production' phase to principal animation.  The film will precede a major new live-action Conan feature from Warner Bros. (see 'Conan Movie Back on Track'). The return of Robert E. Howard's sword-wielding Cimmerian to the big screen can only be good news for retailers given the number of Conan licensees, which includes, to name a few of the most prominent, Dark Horse Comics, McFarlane Toys, Ballantine/Del Rey, Comic Images (CCG), and Mongoose Publishing (RPG).