The Prison Break producer is in final negotiations with Lionsgate Films to direct a remake of “Conan,” the story about the most famous fictional barbarian.

Rumor has it that Ratner enjoyed very much the script, which was written by Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly, who looked to Robert E. Howard's original pulp stories. The pair, best known for writing “Sahara,” is currently upgrading the scenery of “Conan” so as to integrate some of Ratner’s ideas about the film.

The American studios Nu Image/Millennium and Lionsgate, which recently partnered on “Rambo,” are now collaborating on the reboot of “Conan” movie, scheduled to be released in 2010. The film will be budgeted in the $85 million range and is trying to get an "R" rating.

The story of the antiheroic character “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,” Avi Lerner, co-founder of Nu Image and Millenium Films told The Hollywood Reporter. "This is a coup for Millennium Films and proves that our choice of projects and material is attracting much higher-profile directors and actors."

The Rush Hour series director is involved in two other projects of great magnitude: he is attached to direct the “God of War” movie, which is based on the famous video game series, as well as the latest “Beverly Hills Cop” adventure in which Eddie Murphy will reprise the role that launched his movie career. Ratner said it will direct BHC 4 after “Conan.”