Red Sonja has always kind of been second in line to Conan the Barbarian when it comes to Robert E. Howard’s universe. So it came as no surprise when the biggest news to come out of this panel was the fact that Robert Rodriquez says plans are to follow this feature with a new Conan movie. Rose McGowan looked nice, the special promotion shots were a nice touch for a film that hasn’t even started shooting, and it’s nice to see Doug Aarniokoski, the “assistant director on most of Rodriguez’s films (and one of the masterminds behind the documentary, FULL TILT BOOGIE, attached to FROM DUSK ‘TIL DAWN), finally get a shot of his own, but when Robert mentioned the name Conan there was a different kind of buzz flowing through the room.
The trio revealed two sweet new promotion posters next to the stage that I spent ten minutes with trying to get a good angle with my camera. Then they put them on the internet last night. Balls. A bunch more were shown via slide show throughout the panel that I was able to nab but the quality wasn’t that great on most.
The idea that eventually led to RED SONJA was another re-imagining of BARBARELLA. Sonja was too close to Roberts heart though and once the Rose came across the script he went back to his childhood and pulled up all the fond memories he had of the metal bikini and how sweet she would look in it. McGowan has been working out daily for three hours and was scheduled to start sword training on Monday. She’s also training to be a free runner, the type of running you see in the opening action sequence of CASINO ROYALE. The film looks to be an origin story and is , more or less, based on the new Dynamite run. The film’s villain is also supposed to be featured in the story arc.
– Rose says the feel for the film will be “hard, cold, dirty, and bloody” and she’s ready for it all.
– To get in the mood for the production, Robert and Rose would have sword fights in their front yard. Him using his Conan replica sword and her, a lawn stake.
– The reason Rodriguez is only producing the film is that he owes Mirimax one more film in his contract and it must be his next directorial effort. He teased Doug that he’ll be doing a little more than the average producer for the film.
– Rose will not be sporting a mullet. Which meant there will be no affiliation to the original Bridgette Nielson film in 1985.
– Robert’s doing another 10 Minute Cooking School (Texas Barbecue) for the release of the GRINDHOUSE double disc DVD. His first (breakfast tacos) was so popular Best Buy wanted to put out exclusive versions. He declined.
– When Rose slammed her face against the plexiglass in PLANET TERROR she almost shattered her cheek bone. Still, she plans on doing most of her own stunts for Sonja.
– The first film Rose ever saw in America (she was born in Italy) was C.H.U.D. and she is very proud that she still knows what it stands for (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller).
– When asked if he had any ideas for his new Conan, the first name Rodriguez threw out was Danny Trejo. He then nailed a Trejo impersonation and talked about how badly he wants to start MACHETE. He already decided to have a fake trailer for PLANET TERROR 2 attached. He had written the original script for MACHETE years ago but has pulled various scenes out for his other films (such as the handcuff scene in ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO).
– RED SONJA will be pulling for a hard R rating and should be out in the fourth quarter of 2009. Shooting starts this Fall.