Created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith in 1973 (and inspired by the works of Conan creator Robert E. Howard), the comic book character Red Sonja made her screen debut in a 1985 film where she was played by Brigitte Nielsen. (You can watch that Red Sonja HERE.) We've been hearing talk of a new Red Sonja for thirteen years now, as the project has passed through the hands of producer Robert Rodriguez and directors Doug Aarniokoski, Simon West, and Bryan Singer, writers David N. White, Christopher Cosmos and Ashley Miller have worked on the script, and actresses like Rose McGowan, Megan Fox, and Amber Heard have been considered for the title role.
Now it looks like Red Sonja might finally move forward, with Tasha Huo (who works as showrunner on Netflix's upcoming animated Tomb Raider series) being hired to write the screenplay with director Joey Soloway (best known for creating the TV show Transparent and directing 18 episodes of it).
Millennium will be pre-selling the film at next week's European Film Market, and casting is expected to begin immediately.
Soloway had this to say about the project:
I have loved Red Sonja forever and I feel so honored to help shepherd her story and start this cinematic journey. There could not be a greater moment in our world for Red Sonja's ways of wielding power and her connection with nature and our planet. She is an ancient heroine with an epic calling, and translating that to the screen is a dream come true for me as a filmmaker. I can't wait to collaborate with Tasha on this vision."
Red Sonja is being produced by Mark Canton, Courtney Solomon, Christa Campbell, Lati Grobman, Andrea Sperling, Yariv Lerner, Jeffrey Greenstein, Jonathan Younger, Les Weldon, Joe Gatta, and Tanner Mobley. Millennium's Avi Lerner, Boaz Davidson, and Trevor Short serve as executive producers with Dorothy Canton, Nick Barrucci of Dynamite Entertainment, and Luke Lieberman of Red Sonja LLC.
In addition to the Tomb Raider animated series, Huo is also writing The Witcher: Blood Origin, a prequel series set 1200 years before The Witcher, for Netflix.