Bringing old reboots back from the grave seems to be a new trend these days and it looks like Red Sonja is no exception. The Hollywood Report says that Nu Image/Millennium Films have tasked newcomer Christopher Cosmo to pen a new script. There’s not word on the vision for this new film but is expected to ignore previous incarnations of the the project.
The original film based on the character created by Robert E. Howard starred Brigitte Nielsen with Conan actor Arnold Schwarzenegger in a supporting role playing a different character. Made during the height of the fantasy film craze but ultimately was lacklustre.
Marvel started a line of Red Sonja comic books which become just as popular as their Conan books, and Sonja is still doing well at Dynamite comics.
Sonja is actually an excellent character and did help influence shows like Xena The Warrior Princess. There’s some hope that the studio could put the effort into making a decent film and finally give Sonja a top and some armor on her torso/legs.
Then again, this is the same studio that thought The Expendabelles was good idea. A female Expendables spin-off where the ladies would go undercover as hookers, not at all misogynistic.
Most recently Doug Aarniokoski had been planning on writing and directing the remake, but had been thrown into limbo.
You might remember years before Robert Rodriguez took to Comic-Con to promote his reboot of Red Sonja with his then girlfriend Rose McGowan and Planet Terror muse set to take the titular role. A terrible casting choice and we’re all seemingly thankful that didn’t happen.
Rose did have a part in Jason Momoa‘s attempt at rebooting Conan The Barbarian, it was thought that film doing poorly contributed to the studio putting Sonja into development limbo
Robert is about to start production on his own fantasy film a live-action remake of Fire And Ice. You can see from the concept art that he’s going to more ambitious with this film than he has been previously. I used to be a huge Rodriguez fan but wasting his time on lousy kids films, purposely making dreck theres been a large disconnect and I’ve found myself ignoring his projects.
I’m curious if this new development has anything to do with Schwarzenegger reprising the Conan role soon in The Legend of Conan at Universal.
SOURCE: THR