Cinefantastique Online

STARDUST director Matthew Vaughn is negotiating to direct a big-screen adaptation of the Marvel comic book superhero, Thor. The film will be produced by Marvel itself, as they have done with IRON MAN and THE INCREDIBLE HULK. Current plan it to begin lensing on THOR later this year, in time to avoid a potential strike.

Also in a rush to reach the big screen is a new incarnation of Robert E. Howard’s Conan. Warner Brothers, which produced two CONAN films with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980s, recently lost the rights after spending seven years trying to develop a new script. Millennium Films aquired the property and, eager to avoid the delays that killed WB’s efforts, plans to start production next spring on a new, more faithful film version.