Female comic book characters haven’t gotten the bright spotlight their male counterparts have at the movies, but as we move into the future, we’ll see more and more women getting the time they deserve. This leaves the door open for all sorts of characters to slice off their own piece of the pie, including Red Sonja, who may finally get a chance do some slaying of her own.
Deadline got the exclusive that Millennium Media (the rights holders of the character) and CineLou are putting a new movie with the character on the fast track as they look for a new director and writer. Millennium’s Avi Lerner (who will also produce) said that thanks to the success of WONDER WOMAN they are ready to bring the character to the modern era as audiences have made it known they crave female-led superhero movies:
We have been waiting for the right time for this remake, and with the success of WONDER WOMAN, the audience has spoken. They want female heroes.
First appearing in the “Conan the Barbarian” comics, the character was first seen on-screen in 1985 with star Brigitte Nielsen, and there have been many attempts to bring the character back to theaters. At one point, Robert Rodriguez intended to do a remake with then-fiancée Rose McGowan, but that plan ultimately sank. Then there was another shot in 2011 with Amber Heard that was being planned while the 2011 CONAN was coming out with Jason Momoa. But the latter film tanked, and so did plans for Red Sonja (coincidentally, both of those actors are now in AQUAMAN together). The last attempt to bring the character back to the big screen was in 2015 when writer Christopher Cosmos was tasked with writing the movie. Nothing ever came of the flick, and here we are.
Audiences are indeed craving more female superhero movies, with WONDER WOMAN becoming the biggest movie at the box office in the U.S. this summer, and is now the biggest superhero origin movie at the global box office. Marvel also has CAPTAIN MARVEL on the way with Brie Larson.
With comic book movies like LOGAN, DEADPOOL and next year’s VENOM proving there’s a market for R-rated comic book movies, I think throwing Red Sonja into the mix could be a great way of giving audiences not only a female-led comic book movie but a very adult one as well. With the right director and script it could be a tremendous effort, and hopefully, Lerner and Co. will actually keep the balling rolling here and get something on-screen in the next year or two. However, I wouldn't expect to see that armored bikini making an appearance.