New 'Red Sonja' movie is happening and being fast-tracked

[LordOfLore]

Link.

Millennium Media will finance and produce a new version of Red Sonja and is looking to it as a new franchise for the company. The project will be produced by Millennium's Avi Lerner and Joe Gatta alongside Cinelou's Mark Canton and Courtney Solomon. They are fast-tracking this project and will next hire a writer.

Red Sonja is based on a heroine created by Robert E Howard as adapted into the Marvel comics of the 1970's. She has appeared in hundreds of comic books over the decades, which Dynamite Entertainment continues publishing today.

"We have been waiting for the right time for this remake, and with the success of Wonder Woman, the audience has spoken. They want female heroes," said Lerner.

The film's executive producers will be Millennium Films' Boaz Davidson, John Thompson and Trevor Short. Christa Campbell and Lati Grobman of Campbell Grobman films will also executive produce with Scott Karol of Cinelou. In addition, Red Sonja's rights holder Luke Lieberman will also be an exec producer.

The first Red Sonja in 1985 starred (and introduced) Brigitte Nielsen and Arnold Schwarzenegger. This version of Red Sonja will be different with fresh story ideas and characters.

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[tellNoel]

Marvel gotta counter that female heroine fever

 

[Officer Big Mac]

I hope they find a better way to make her a badass than to have her family killed and Sonja violently raped.

 

[T'Chakku]

I hope they find a better way to make her a badass than to have her family killed and Sonja violently raped.

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Ugh...is that really her origin? I've been meaning to try the comics but never got around to it.
They should definitely avoid the rape victim thing. Too clichéd when it comes to tough female characters.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

Bring back Brigitte Nielsen for a mentor part or something.

 

[Sgt. Demblant]

"We have been waiting for the right time for this remake, and with the success of Wonder Woman, the audience has spoken. They want female heroes," said Lerner.

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Well at least they're being honest. But hey, why not.
Now hopefully the movie won't be renamed this time around. Red Sonja was released as Kalidor (the Schwarzenegger character) in a bunch of european countries back then. Sigh...

 

[Fluffrick]

If "Red Sonja" stops Avi Lerner from making his god-awful sounding "Expendabelles" spin-off, I'm all for it. But there's a fundamental disconnect between this source material and the approach that DC and Patty Jenkins took with "Wonder Woman" - this project smacks of jumping on the bandwagon and hanging on by your fingernails.

 

[Kinthey]

Expecting the costume to be toned down a lot

Ugh...is that really her origin? I've been meaning to try the comics but never got around to it.
They should definitely avoid the rape victim thing. Too clichéd when it comes to tough female characters.

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Iirc are there a bunch of variations on thr origins by now. Stuff written by Gail Simone is usually a good pick

 

[itwasTuesday]

Just remember. The foley on the sword swings really is top notch.

 

[Khanimus]

Gail Simone run or give me death

 

[Busaiku]

Gail Simone or don't bother.

 

[Saya]

Wasn't Rose McGowan attached to it at some point?

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Starring Cara Delevingne

 

[Noisepurge]

Wasn't Rose McGowan attached to it at some point?

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Yup. But that never got further than pictures of her in costume unfortunately :(

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

Wasn't Rose McGowan attached to it at some point?

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Back when Robert Rodriguez was attached as director or producer.

 

[Gaia Lanzer]

Wasn't Rose McGowan attached to it at some point?

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Yeah, I remembered reading about that a while back on Bloody Disgusting.

 

[jon bones]

i'd be down for Red Sonja to kick off the Conan CU

make a bombastic, fantastical, heavy metal inspired Conan world with all his buds and i'm in

 

[Kickmaster Kim]

So what's the lowdown with Sonja? All I know is she's the first person I think of when someone says bikini armor and that she has a ton of fan art.

 

[FaceHugger]

Awesome. I haven't seen the film since I was a kid but it always struck me as odd that it never got a sequel or remake. Every fantasy movie of the era seemed to get some kind of followup but this one. Well, this and Willow.

I suppose in the wake of Wonder Woman we'll be seeing more women in lead action roles.

 

[LordOfLore]

For people who wonder what the reboot origin for Sonja is:

In the new Red Sonja series written by Gail Simone, the character's origin story was retold, removing both the rape and supernatural elements of her story. In the reboot her original name is revealed as Sonjita rather than Sonja, and she was the daughter of the chief of a Hyrkanian village. The village was attacked by vicious raiders and Sonjita's family and the rest of the villagers were slaughtered, leaving Sonjita the lone survivor. But she was not caught or raped by the attackers, nor was she ever visited by the goddess Scathach. Instead, Sonjita escaped into the wild and relied on her own hunting skills to track down and kill the raiders one by one. She was then captured by slavers and forced to fight for her life in an arena for three years, through which she gained her unrivaled fighting skill and became known by her 'arena' name: "Red Sonja."

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[HStallion]

Robert E Howard's original Red Sonya was actually a female swashbuckler, in I think, the 1600's. That would be another cool take on her but then again I love me some Robert E. Howard pulp stories. There was also a character in a Conan the Barbarian story The Red Nails that may have been another original inspiration.

 

[Platy]

If they respect the character awesome ... but I have this feeling they won't =|

So what's the lowdown with Sonja? All I know is she's the first person I think of when someone says bikini armor and that she has a ton of fan art.

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To be fair it is kinda* justified since her world is basically "everyone in bathing suit armor" world =P

Spoiler: *

Read that as "makes more sense than most" not "it is a good way to do bikini armor"

 

[TheKid]

yo if this goes through can conan 3 finally be made?

 

[DiipuSurotu]

yo if this goes through can conan 3 finally be made?

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With Arnold?

 

[Disco]

R rating and make it look extremely stylistic like the mad max movies or 300 I hope

 

[jon bones]

R rating and make it look extremely stylistic like the mad max movies or 300 I hope

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mad max style rated R would be perfect

300 style would be boring

 

[Kinthey]

If they respect the character awesome ... but I have this feeling they won't =|



To be fair it is kinda* justified since her world is basically "everyone in bathing suit armor" world =P

Spoiler: *

Read that as "makes more sense than most" not "it is a good way to do bikini armor"

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That's pretty much Gail Simone's response.

"I get why it upsets some people, there's a long tradition of sexist costumes and bullshit going back to the end of time in comics. But, I don't know, to me, it's a bit like Canary's fishnets, which I defend forever. To me, it makes some sense for Sonja. She wears what she damn well pleases and couldn't care less what you think about it. Conan wears less. The comics versions of Howard's barbarian characters barely wear clothes at all. Their core concept is freedom, a hatred of being encumbered. They're barbarians, not knights."

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http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com...-simone-talks-about-her-red-sonja-hitting-the

I'd be happy if they stick to it as it's also pretty much iconic

 

[StallionDan]

Ugh...is that really her origin? I've been meaning to try the comics but never got around to it.
They should definitely avoid the rape victim thing. Too clichéd when it comes to tough female characters.

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During the rape she asks the gods for help and one gives her strength and skills with a sword, but forbids her from ever sleeping with a man unless he can best her in battle.

Fuck them if they try change it. It her origin, stick to it or don't use the character. Same with her armour. It's silly in the real world but she not in the real world, bring her world to life where everything is ridiculous and so nothing is ridiculous.

 

[jon bones]

During the rape she asks the gods for help and one gives her strength and skills with a sword, but forbids her from ever sleeping with a man unless he can best her in battle.

Fuck them if they try change it. It her origin, stick to it or don't use the character. Same with her armour. It's silly in the real world but she not in the real world, bring her world to life where everything is ridiculous and so nothing is ridiculous.

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internet dudes love saying this when its women or poc getting represented problematically in media hmmm

 

[StallionDan]

internet dudes love saying this when its women or poc getting represented problematically in media hmmm

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I say this of every character movies try to change.

 

[Juke Joint Jezebel]

Better be wearing that awesome bikini armour and pauldrons! Barbarian as fuck!

 

[DiipuSurotu]

I love how alternate universes, timeline rewrites, multiple canons, and story reboots are all staples of comic book fiction, yet when it's a movie adaptation it's somehow sacrilegious to try anything new.

 

[Officer Big Mac]

During the rape she asks the gods for help and one gives her strength and skills with a sword, but forbids her from ever sleeping with a man unless he can best her in battle.

Fuck them if they try change it. It her origin, stick to it or don't use the character. Same with her armour. It's silly in the real world but she not in the real world, bring her world to life where everything is ridiculous and so nothing is ridiculous.

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Unless you're using rape to send a specific message, you're being lazy with your character motivations. Movies are adaptations and rarely, if ever, translations.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RapeAsBackstory

 

[Gaia Lanzer]

During the rape she asks the gods for help and one gives her strength and skills with a sword, but forbids her from ever sleeping with a man unless he can best her in battle.

Fuck them if they try change it. It her origin, stick to it or don't use the character. Same with her armour. It's silly in the real world but she not in the real world, bring her world to life where everything is ridiculous and so nothing is ridiculous.

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I don't know, her less-revealing armor looks pretty dope.

That's the comics, though.

 

[RoninRay]

During the rape she asks the gods for help and one gives her strength and skills with a sword, but forbids her from ever sleeping with a man unless he can best her in battle.

Fuck them if they try change it. It her origin, stick to it or don't use the character. Same with her armour. It's silly in the real world but she not in the real world, bring her world to life where everything is ridiculous and so nothing is ridiculous.

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Hard pass that sounds like hot garbage. Why would anyone want a movie or story out of this ?

 

[Deleted member 2226]

Hard pass that sounds like hot garbage. Why would anyone want a movie or story out of this ?

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Because it's basically irrelevant? I literally grew up reading the Howard stories and the Marvel adaptations of Conan and Red Sonja and never even heard that origin before now. Haven't we gotten tired of wasting time on origin movies anyhow?

As for the costume, it is both a comic book where everyone's running around in impractical clothing, but there's no way an unsupporting chainmail bra is going to be something you'd ever want to wear either. So I'm of two minds about modifying the look.

 

[Platy]

Hard pass that sounds like hot garbage. Why would anyone want a movie or story out of this ?

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And Thor is a skinny old doctor who transforms into an old god because of a magic stick

The reboot origin is much better and there is no reason to not base this movie on anything besides the reboot because it is this good

 

[flaxknuckles]

That's pretty much Gail Simone's response.


http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com...-simone-talks-about-her-red-sonja-hitting-the

I'd be happy if they stick to it as it's also pretty much iconic

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She says that and then right after that she had Red Sonja, Vampirella, and Dejah Floris get practical clothing when Dynamite let her lead the line.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

They should cast Antje Traue as Red Sonja

 

[Sabretooth]

Thanks, Wonder Woman!

 

[jon bones]

I say this of every character movies try to change.

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thankfully we are in a post-wonder woman world so your opinion means little in this case, regardless of if you really say this 'of every character'

this is an opportunity to put forth rich worldbuilding with strong female characters that don't rely on rape backstories. internet dudes not understanding that that is more important than whatever it is you're looking for is as tired and tropey as the rape backstory itself.

 

[Kinthey]

She says that and then right after that she had Red Sonja, Vampirella, and Dejah Floris get practical clothing when Dynamite let her lead the line.

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Huh, didn't know that she overlooked those redesigns. Afaik did those bomb pretty hard and at least red Sonja returned to the old outfit pretty fast. The new approach they're taking with Vampirella right now is also a billion times better then what they cooked up back then.

 

[RationalGinger]

thankfully we are in a post-wonder woman world so your opinion means little in this case, regardless of if you really say this 'of every character'

this is an opportunity to put forth rich worldbuilding with strong female characters that don't rely on rape backstories. internet dudes not understanding that that is more important than whatever it is you're looking for is as tired and tropey as the rape backstory itself.

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Red Sonja's original backstory only fits if they were trying to capture the concept of the Conan universe. Presumably this will be a stand-alone fantasy film with a female lead, so the change is necessary.

That being said, I expect this remake to be trope blind, cliche, and to bomb financially. This "post Wonder Woman" world mentality isn't as strong as people think. Wonder Woman had just as many cliche tropes as any male superhero movie, but had two things going for it:

A) A superb cast giving actual good performances in the first non-grimdark DCU film.

B) The massive WW fanbase finally getting to see their icon done justice on the big screen.

Red Sonja will have neither, and Marvel is really trying to jump on a bandwagon they should have kick-started already.

 

[StallionDan]

thankfully we are in a post-wonder woman world so your opinion means little in this case, regardless of if you really say this 'of every character'

this is an opportunity to put forth rich worldbuilding with strong female characters that don't rely on rape backstories. internet dudes not understanding that that is more important than whatever it is you're looking for is as tired and tropey as the rape backstory itself.

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Rich world building? Well her world is full of violence, rape, warriors in next to no clothing.

If they not gonna have Red Sonja with her story in her world they probably shouldn't call the movie or character Red Sonja.

If you don't like the character or world it is ok, you are not forced to see the movie.