Rush Hour Director Interested In "Conan" Remake

Brett Ratner, who directed all three "Rush Hour" films, is reportedly in final negotiations to remake Conan, the story about the well-known barbarian.

Over the past few weeks, Ratner and his people have been banging out the details in a deal that would put Ratner in charge of another big-time movie franchise.

He's already attached to the production of Beverly Hills Cop 4, for which Eddie Murphy will come back and play the lead character.

The script for Conan was written by Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly, who are best known for writing Sahara.

Paramount, the studio for which Ratner will make Conan, is eying a 2010 release for the film. It will probably follow the release of Beverly Hills Cop 4, however.

And Ratner has a rather large budget to work with. It's an estimated $85 million, which is an especially large number, considering that Conan will likely be an "R" rated film.

"The story opens on the battlefield where Conan is born and tells the origin story that sets the stage for what will be the first of multiple films," said Millennium principal Avi Lerner.

The first "Conan" movie was made by Oliver Stone and John Milius, whose Conan the Barbarian was the breakout role for Arnold Schwarzenegger.