Although Ron Howard is plenty busy convincing the world that Arrested Development is filming a fourth season, he's ready to take on another TV project steeped in myth and legend. Deadline reports that Howard is preparing to direct the Showtime series Conquest, a "sweeping period drama" written by The Motorcycle Diaries' José Rivera about the clash between the Spanish conquistador Cortes and Aztec emperor Moctezuma II, who didn't exactly appreciate being conquistadored. There's no concrete timeline yet for when Conquest might make actually begin shooting, especially given Howard's busy development schedule and the fact that The Dark Tower situation suggests he's had some trouble mounting these sorts of epic stories lately. But it certainly sounds like a readymade concept for premium cable, given that the war story is said to be "filled with blood, lust, gold, magic, and mythology"—all of which are things that make this a "passion project" for Ron Howard, given that those same words could be used to describe his life thus far, particularly the part where he feasted on the still-beating heart of Donny Most. Also encouragingly, as of press time, Akiva Goldsman is nowhere near the project.
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