Feitshans approached Pressman, but differences over several issues stopped discussions from going further. Oliver Stone joined the Conan project after Paramount Pictures offered to fund the film's initial $2.5 million budget if a "name screenwriter" was on the team. After securing Stone's services, Pressman approached Frank Frazetta to be a "visual consultant", but they failed to come to terms. The producer then engaged Ron Cobb, who had just completed a set design job on Alien (1979). Cobb made a series of paintings and drawings for Pressman before leaving to join Milius on another project. The estimates to realize Stone's finished script ran to $40 million; Pressman, Summer, and Stone could not convince a studio to finance their project. Pressman's production company was in financial difficulties and in order to keep it afloat he borrowed money from the bank. The failure to find a suitable director was also a problem for the project. Stone and Joe Alves, who was the second unit director on Jaws 2, were considered as possible co-directors, but Pressman said it "was a pretty crazy idea and [they] didn't get anywhere with it". Stone also said that he asked Ridley Scott, who had finished directing Alien, to take up the task, but was rejected. Cobb showed Milius his work for Conan and Stone's script, which according to him, reignited Milius's interest; the director contacted Pressman, and they came to an agreement: Milius would direct the film if he were allowed to modify the script. Milius was known in the film industry for his macho screenplays for Dirty Harry (1971) and Magnum Force (1973). He was, however, contracted to direct his next film for Dino De Laurentiis, an influential producer in the fantasy film industry. Milius raised the idea of taking on Conan with De Laurentiis, and after a year of negotiations, Pressman and De Laurentiis agreed to co-produce. De Laurentiis took over the financing and production, and Pressman gave up all claims to the film's profits, though he retained approval over changes to the script, cast, and director. Dino De Laurentiis assigned the responsibility for production to his daughter, Raffaella, and Feitshans. Milius was formally appointed as director in early 1979, and Cobb was named as the production designer. De Laurentiis convinced Universal Pictures to become the film's distributor for North America. The studio also contributed to the production budget of $17.5 million and prepared $12 million