So is Djimon Hounsou in CONAN?

On Sunday we heard from IESB that actor Djimon Hounsou had landed a part in his dream comic book project, which the site speculated could be the role of Black Panther in the yet to be confirmed third part of the Fantastic Four series. They also mentioned that it could be for a voice part in Tintin, a reunion with director Steven Spielberg who gave him his big break in Amistad a decade ago and a rumor that most sites around the web found easier to believe. It would seem neither of those are correct. CHUD have done some investigating and have point blank asked the actor just exactly what film he was referring to, and they got this response...

I kind of wanted to be quiet about it until I completely finished the project. It's obviously a comic book that used to be part of the Conan comic book...

Conan, interesting. It's the kind of movie that would certainly suit Djimon Hounsou's persona having excelled at the muscle man part in Gladiator eight years ago, a performance so solid and strong that Ridley Scott at one time heavily flirted with pushing ahead with a sequel based on his character alone. So CHUD called Nu Image, the studio putting the film together and their response was that they were not in talks with Hounsou for the film and reminded us that they are two months away from seeing a finished script fall into their hands and have not found a director just yet. For those keeping track, said screenplay is currently being scribed by duo Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, the writers of Sahara. So despite him being perfect for that property, that seems to be a no-no. So looking at the other properties from Robert E. Howard (and remember, the actor says "that use to be part of the Conan comic book"), the writer of Conan - instantly you are reminded of Solomon Kane, a movie based on a pulp comic three months into filming with James Purefoy in the lead role. Though as far as I'm aware, no connections exist between the Kane franchise and the Conan one.

Surely it can't be that? It's so far into filming, Hounsou couldn't possibly have a big role in the picture and the only outcome here is a potential cameo to setup a future sequel somewhere down the road? There is apparently a witch doctor in Kane's original canon which Hounsou would be perfect for, but is that really his dream role? So it probably isn't that. So we investigate further. How about the Bran Mak Morn property that Peter Berg has been attached to director for a while now? Problem is though that's a tale about celts, so unless they go for a black magic voodoo angle, I'm not sure it could be that... The last we heard was that Berg was next set to direct Tom Cruise in a biopic of Edwin Salt, with the Brak Man Mor property just one of several potential projects that will keep him busy between now and the end of the decade. So then we move on to other possibilities, with only Red Sonja (a comic book spin-off of Conan focused around a female) and Kull, which we have not heard any rumblings of a movie for in the recent past.

This one is a real mystery. Somebody somewhere ain't quite telling the truth. Hounsou seems to fit Conan so well, I can't believe it's not that movie he has held talks for. And I mean, he even says so himself in the sound bit, he's probably let the cat out of the bag too early fo Nu Image's liking. Just because the script isn't complete, doesn't mean the studio haven't spoken to the actor no matter what they say. And they could well have a director they want, the news just hasn't leaked yet. Hounsou in a Conan movie sounds good to me. I'm hoping for that.