Bryan Singer in talks to direct Red Sonja reboot

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Red Sonja Brigitte Nielsen

A new film based on the Robert E. Howard / Marvel Comics character RED SONJA has been gradually making its way through development hell for a decade now, with the property slipping through the hands of directors like Robert Rodriguez, Doug Aarniokoski, and Simon West while Rose McGowan, Amber Heard, and Megan Fox were in consideration for the lead role. A few years ago, Bryan Singer was working with rights holder Luke Lieberman to craft a Red Sonja television series, but that never made it into production, either.

With the TV series abandoned, Singer is now focusing on the idea of bringing Red Sonja back to the big screen, having entered negotiations to direct the new film version.

Earlier this year, Millennium Films hired Ashley Edward Miller to write a new draft of the RED SONJA script. Miller and Singer previously worked together on X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, which Miller co-wrote and Singer produced.

Inspired by Conan the Barbarian creator Robert E. Howard's characters Red Sonya of Rogatino and Dark Agnes de Chastillon, Red Sonja was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor Smith. She made her debut in the 1973 Marvel comic Conan the Barbarian #23. Red Sonja comics are now published by Dynamite Entertainment.

Miller said his approach to the material is to 

faithfully adapt the amazing Hyborean world Robert E. Howard created, and inject it with Sonja’s intelligence, ferocity, and fearless humanity. I want people to love Sonja the way I love her, and walk out of the theater understanding why she’s so popular and enduring. Sonja is an icon."

A RED SONJA film starring Brigitte Nielsen (pictured above) in the title role was released in 1985.

I don't think Singer is a very exciting choice for this project and his work on the X-MEN franchise has been hit and miss for me, but if he has passion for Red Sonja like Miller does, maybe this could turn out to be a cool movie.

Source: Variety

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Cody is a news editor and film critic, focused on the horror arm of JoBlo.com, and writes scripts for videos that are released through the JoBlo Originals and JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channels. In his spare time, he's a globe-trotting digital nomad, runs a personal blog called Life Between Frames, and writes novels and screenplays.