64 replies to this topic

[TortolaBVI]

Gentlemen, thought i would let you know of some interesting news that i heard on the grapevine that a British production company has begun development of a Conan television drama in the tradition of The Colour of Magic. The 'special' is to be based on one of Howard's earliest published Conan stories for obvious copyright reasons. At present, the production team includes creatives from HBO's Rome series. The actual idea behind doing it has floated about for a couple of years, and has only recently moved forward with renewed interest due to production possibilities. It's in early stages at the moment, though i am hoping to be involved in some capacity myself.

[BvTcH3r]

Gentlemen, thought i would let you know of some interesting news that i heard on the grapevine that a British production company has begun development of a Conan television drama in the tradition of The Colour of Magic. The 'special' is to be based on one of Howard's earliest published Conan stories for obvious copyright reasons. At present, the production team includes creatives from HBO's Rome series. The actual idea behind doing it has floated about for a couple of years, and has only recently moved forward with renewed interest due to production possibilities. It's in early stages at the moment, though i am hoping to be involved in some capacity myself.

OH MY GOD!
is that true?
They are going to made a Conan TV series like Rome? and with an english production?

[TortolaBVI]

Gentlemen, thought i would let you know of some interesting news that i heard on the grapevine that a British production company has begun development of a Conan television drama in the tradition of The Colour of Magic. The 'special' is to be based on one of Howard's earliest published Conan stories for obvious copyright reasons. At present, the production team includes creatives from HBO's Rome series. The actual idea behind doing it has floated about for a couple of years, and has only recently moved forward with renewed interest due to production possibilities. It's in early stages at the moment, though i am hoping to be involved in some capacity myself.

OH MY GOD!
is that true?
They are going to made a Conan TV series like Rome? and with an english production?

The Colour Of Magic was a 3 hour adaptation of the book of the same name, not a series. The creatives involved with Conan were also involved with Rome. The Mob Film Company are not involved in any way. Hope this clarifies.

Edited by TortolaBVI, 05 March 2009 - 03:24 PM.

[Munthasem]

Wow! Sounds nice! The British tv series are great. I remember I enjoyed their criminalistic series such as The Cracker, The Midsommer murders, Silent witness, ... The act and the stories, psychology of the characters... great, great, great. If it ever comes to life, I just hope it will be available. Something tells me it won't be a cheap fantasy belch bag done with half of their senses on the stand by mode. Looking forward to it.
Thanks for sharing man!

[amster]

I hate to rain on your parade, but unless CPI has liscensed the character to the production company, this project will be crushed before it even gets off the ground. It really doesn't matter if the story its based on is public domain. The character Conan is a registered trademark.

...but I love the idea.

[Head-On-A-Pike]

I hate to rain on your parade, but unless CPI has liscensed the character to the production company, this project will be crushed before it even gets off the ground. It really doesn't matter if the story its based on is public domain. The character Conan is a registered trademark.

...but I love the idea.

I'd rather see a British miniseries of Conan where they had to change his name for legal reasons than a Hollywood Conan movie where they should have changed his name for lack of resemblance to Howard's character. Bring on CORNAN, or KOH-NAN, or CORCORAN...whatever!!

[?sir]

Cone-naan!

Edited by ?sir, 05 March 2009 - 07:49 PM.

[Kortoso]

The Colour of Magic (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1079959/) looks like a good production, with a few cast members that we all like (Sean Astin, Tim Curry, Jeremy Irons, Brian Cox, Christopher Lee). I shall seek it out.

On the other hand, "creatives from HBO's Rome" includes John Milius.

[Bill Hollweg]

I hate to rain on your parade, but unless CPI has liscensed the character to the production company, this project will be crushed before it even gets off the ground. It really doesn't matter if the story its based on is public domain. The character Conan is a registered trademark.

...but I love the idea.

Isn't that the truth...

[Sermon Bath]

they can use the story and the name....they just cant say Conan the Barbarian....Conan is a common name. I dont think anyone has sued Conan O'Brien yet....and his name is a combination of Conan and Turlogh Dubh O'Brien

PS my friend Denny Crane told me this

Edited by Sermon Bath, 05 March 2009 - 10:24 PM.

[Waldgeist]

Well Paradox has recently forbid the non-commerical publishing of audio books, even if they do not use the word "Conan" in the ads for the audio books. They claim to have the rights to the stories itself even though they are under public domain. I really don't understand all this law bogus but i am certainly sure if they do not have a license from CPI that series will never see the light of day, if CPI agressively approached even non-commercial projects.

[TheLordCrom]

Yep, that is too bad. I would have enjoyed that....

[Kortoso]

Once again the boring sound of sanity. Unless TortolaBVI can offer us some more information, I wouldn't get worked up over it.

[amster]

they can use the story and the name....they just cant say Conan the Barbarian....Conan is a common name. I dont think anyone has sued Conan O'Brien yet....and his name is a combination of Conan and Turlogh Dubh O'Brien

PS my friend Denny Crane told me this

I'm no lawyer, but that sounds like a textbook case of Trademark infringement to me.

Once again the boring sound of sanity. Unless TortolaBVI can offer us some more information, I wouldn't get worked up over it.

Could it be that we're so starved to see Conan on film that even unsubstantiated rumors get us into a feeding frenzy?

But yeah, Tortola, do you have a link or something?

Edited by amsterdamaged, 06 March 2009 - 02:34 AM.

[Sermon Bath]

IM not a lawyer either..there are some things I just wont do for money

[Taranaich]

they can use the story and the name....they just cant say Conan the Barbarian....Conan is a common name. I dont think anyone has sued Conan O'Brien yet....and his name is a combination of Conan and Turlogh Dubh O'Brien

I'm unsure of the specifics, but I'd been led to believe that the popular anime "Detective Conan" was titled "Case Closed" for the American market precisely because of legal complications regarding the Conan trademark. The fact that Conan O'Brien isn't a fictional character might be a factor in why he hasn't been sued, any more than a real person called Homer Simpson would be sued by Fox.

EDIT: I can't believe I didn't comment on the issue at hand! ;P "The Colour of Magic" was a pretty decent wee film. I felt it was a bit Hallmarky for my liking, but Terry Pratchett himself said he loved it, so what do I know? If there is indeed more to this than a mere rumour, I'd be very interested in how it turns out.

Edited by Taranaich, 06 March 2009 - 09:30 AM.

[Kortoso]

I'm unsure of the specifics, but I'd been led to believe that the popular anime "Detective Conan" was titled "Case Closed" for the American market precisely because of legal complications regarding the Conan trademark.

I doubt that involves a trademark. Probably just a desire to remove confusion.

[Sermon Bath]

"The Colour of Magic" is showing this weekend on ION network I believe if anybody wants to check it out...check your tv guide for time and date..

[Sermon Bath]

I'm unsure of the specifics, but I'd been led to believe that the popular anime "Detective Conan" was titled "Case Closed" for the American market precisely because of legal complications regarding the Conan trademark.

I doubt that involves a trademark. Probably just a desire to remove confusion.

Gosh, you got to thank our Japanese friends for trying to reduce some of our confusion...every little bit helps!!!

[TortolaBVI]

they can use the story and the name....they just cant say Conan the Barbarian....Conan is a common name. I dont think anyone has sued Conan O'Brien yet....and his name is a combination of Conan and Turlogh Dubh O'Brien

PS my friend Denny Crane told me this

I'm no lawyer, but that sounds like a textbook case of Trademark infringement to me.

Once again the boring sound of sanity. Unless TortolaBVI can offer us some more information, I wouldn't get worked up over it.

Could it be that we're so starved to see Conan on film that even unsubstantiated rumors get us into a feeding frenzy?

But yeah, Tortola, do you have a link or something?

Gentlemen, bit of background to shed a modicum of light on the matter. I work as a Producer and Editor in the UK commercials field. I am also a friend of one of the creatives involved with the Rome tv series. The subject of Howard's Conan works being in the public domain in the UK (70 years after author's death) came up. An associate investigated the matter, and put forward a breakdown of pitfalls and possibilities of adapting an original Weird Tales adventure for the small screen UK market. A treatment for the 90 minute tv special is in the works at the moment. Hope this helps.