TV Article Conan the Barbarian gets new life at Lionsgate By EW Staff Published on January 13, 2008 05:00AM EST (FROM VARIETY) ? Lionsgate has worked out a deal with Nu Image/Millennium Films for a new movie series based on the Conan the Barbarian character. The witing duo Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer (Sahara, Cowboys & Aliens) are set to pen the first film with production scheduled to start later this year. Image/Millennium chief Avi Lerner said he is in talks with the WGA for an interim deal similar to those United Artists and the Weinstein Co. that would allow union writers to work on the movie and help expedite the project. The budget for the ambitious project is being estimated at around $100 million. (Variety)