Merrick here...


Over last weekend, we heard that Brett Ratner's deal to direct the new CONAN movie was being finalized (details HERE).

Turns out, this may not actually be the case.

Seems Producer Avi Lerner (who evidently believes Ratner is the "perfect director" for this project) was premature with his press release detailing Ratner's involvement.

Lerner acknowledged that even though he sent out a press release announcing Ratner's involvement with the project, the del wasn't actually done. "We still have a few obstacles," he said. "Brett is only committed if we agree on a budget, on how to do the special effects and exactly where we'd shoot the film." Lerner has a studio in Bulgaria, so he'd like to shoot most of the movie there, with some exterior work in China.

But is Ratner actually committed to doing the film? In two words: Not really. When I called him today, he sounded somewhat agitated, unhappy that news of his negotiations with Lerner had surfaced, especially since he is extremely close to getting a green light from Paramount to make "Beverly Hills Cop 4." "Let me make this very clear," he told me. "I am not doing 'Conan' now. This is totally premature. For now, 'Conan' is only a development deal. I have a deal at Paramount and I'm doing 'Beverly Hills Cop' first, no matter what. Avi shouldn't be telling you or anyone else in the press what I'm doing."

...says THIS L.A. TIMES WRITE-UP, which goes on to speculate why the...ummm...slightly misleading press release was dispatched to begin with. Interesting stuff...check it out.