After dropping filmmaker Bryan Singer from Millennium Films' RED SONJA project like a bag of dirt, the studio has proudly announced that TRANSPARENT creator Jill Soloway has been hired to write and direct the long-gestating remake. Deadline, who first broke the news about Soloway's involvement, says that the SIX FEET UNDER and UNITED STATES OF TARA producer is coming onto the endeavor with fresh take, with every intention of giving the classic character proper representation for her return to the big screen. Additionally, it was also confirmed that Soloway’s Topple Productions partner Andrea Sperling will produce.
"I can’t wait to bring Red Sonja’s epic world to life,” Soloway told Deadline. “Exploring this powerful mythology and evolving what it means to be a heroine is an artistic dream come true.”
As a legend of the 1970s printed page, Red Sonja made her name as a compliment to Conan the Barbarian. Known to many as a "She Devil with a Sword," Red Sonja is a conqueror of men, commander of respect, and positively lethal with a sword. Dynamite Comics still publishes Red Sonja comics to this very day, with creators the likes of Gail Simone, and soon, Jordie Bellaire at the helm of some of her latest conquests. Moreover, Soloway's RED SONJA will mark the second time that the scarlet–haired hell-bringer is getting the silver screen treatment, after Brigitte Nielsen played the character opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger's Conan in 1985.
It's been a long time coming for RED SONJA, as Hollywood has been attempting to bring the grog-swilling badass back to the big screen for close to a decade. In fact, the closest Sonja ever came to making her theatrical return is when director Robert Rodriguez was in line to direct Rose McGowan as the title character. Much like DC's Wonder Woman, Red Sonja is another character that stands to strike a chord among those looking forward to seeing more female warriors at the center of their own film. If you ask me, now's the perfect time for Soloway to make her mark on the action genre with a blood and guts epic built for franchise potential.