Red Sonja reboot: Hannah John-Kamen and director Joey Soloway may have left the project

Last May, we heard that Hannah John-Kamen had signed on to star in the Red Sonja reboot, which was set to be directed by Transparent creator Joey Soloway. Now the folks at The Illuminerdi are reporting that John-Kamen and Soloway have both dropped off the project. While The Illuminerdi scoops have panned out before, we have to take this report as a RUMOR for now, until we hear official confirmation either way.

The Illuminerdi provided some background on the title character:

The warrior woman out of majestic Hyrkania, Red Sonja, is a fictional character written for Marvel Comics’ Conan the Barbarian comic in the early 1970s. She was powerful enough to go toe to toe with Conan and deny his advances. Her popularity led to her own book that is still publishing issues to this day at Dynamite Comics. She has appeared in the Conan the Adventurer series, her own live-action film in 1985, and an animated film in 2016. Red Sonja, despite only having only a few movie and television appearances has a pretty big presence in comic book circles. The “she-devil with a sword” is nearing her 50-year publication history, she headlines numerous books, a series of novels, and has had a number of notable team-ups, including ones with Spider-Man and Wolverine.

Then went on to say,

Sadly, our sources say that Hannah John-Kamen has fallen out from the film and the production team is looking to cast a new actress for the lead role of Red Sonja. Casting is open to anyone from anywhere, and ideally, she is 5′ 8″ or taller. But the most important aspect for the role is the ability to perform action sequences, as action is crucial to the role.

They also hear that Millennium Pictures has already chosen M.J. Bassett to replace Soloway at the helm of the film, which they’re trying to keep on track for a May production start. If they’re moving that quickly, I assume the script written by Soloway and Tasha Huo is being kept intact, although Bassett has probably had additional input.

Red Sonja is being produced by Jeffrey Greenstein, Mark Canton, Courtney Solomon, Christa Campbell, Lati Grobman, Andrea Sperling, Yariv Lerner, Jonathan Yunger, Les Weldon, Joe Gatta, and Tanner Mobley. Avi Lerner, Boaz Davidson, Trevor Short, Luke Lieberman, Nick Barrucci, and Dorothy Canton serve as executive producers.

John-Kamen’s credits include Ant-Man and the Wasp, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, Unwelcome, Tomb Raider, Ready Player One, and the TV shows Killjoys, Brave New World, and The Stranger. 

M.J. Bassett has previously directed Deathwatch, Wilderness, Solomon Kane, Silent Hill: Revelation, Rogue, Endangered Species, and episodes of Ash vs. Evil Dead, Iron Fist, and Reacher, among other credits.