''Red Sonja'' is an upcoming American sword and sorcery film based on the

Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded by Nick Barrucci in 2004 at Mount Laurel, New Jersey. It is best known as the owners of ''The Boys'' franchise across several IP medias. Dynamite primarily publishes adaptations ...

comic books of the same name.

Matilda Lutz Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz (born 28 January 1991 in Milan, Italy) is an Italian model and actress. She starred in the 2017 horror film '' Rings'' and action thriller film ''Revenge''. She also appeared in the Netflix series '' Medici - The Magn ...

will star as the

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

Cast

Red Sonja Red Sonja is a fictional sword and sorcery comic-book superheroine created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially inspired by Robert E. Howard's character Red Sonya of Rogatino. Marvel Comics pub ...

* Wallis Day as Annisia *

Robert Sheehan Robert Sheehan (born 7 January 1988) is an Irish actor. He is best known for television roles such as Nathan Young in ''Misfits'', Darren Treacy in '' Love/Hate'', and Klaus Hargreeves in ''The Umbrella Academy,'' as well as film roles such a ...

as Draygan *

Michael Bisping Michael Gavin Joseph Bisping (; born 28 February 1979) is an English actor, sports analyst, commentator and retired mixed martial artist, who competed in the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight division of the UFC. A professional competitor s ...

as Hawk * Martyn Ford as General Karlak * Eliza Matengu as Amarak *

Rhona Mitra Rhona is the name of: * Rhona Adair (1878–1961), British golf champion * Rhona Bennett (born 1976), American singer, actress and model * Rhona Brankin (born 1950), Labour Co-operative politician and Member of the Scottish Parliament * Rhona ...

Veronica Ferres Veronica Maria Cäcilia Ferres (; born 10 June 1965) is a German film, television, and stage actress. Her 2007 portrayal of Sara Bender in ''Die Frau vom Checkpoint Charlie'', based on the true story of Jutta Fleck, earned her the award for Be ...

Ashera Asherah (; he, אֲשֵׁרָה, translit=Ăšērā; uga, 𐎀𐎘𐎗𐎚, translit=ʾAṯiratu; akk, 𒀀𒅆𒋥, translit=Aširat; Qatabanian: ') in ancient Semitic religion, is a fertility goddess who appears in a number of ancient so ...

and the mother of Red Sonja

Production

A second ''Red Sonja'' film has been in development for some years. In 2008,

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...

and his production company

Troublemaker Studios Troublemaker Studios is a film production company founded and owned by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and producer Elizabeth Avellán. The company is based in Austin, Texas and is at the former site of the Robert Mueller Municipal Airport. It shares ...

were working on a version that would have starred

Rose McGowan Rósa Arianna "Rose" McGowan (born September 5, 1973) is an American actress. After her film debut in a brief role in the comedy '' Encino Man'' (1992), McGowan achieved wider recognition for her performance in the dark comedy '' The Doom Genera ...

as the titular character. By 2009 however, the Rodriguez project had been scrapped, and as of February 2010, rights holders

Nu Image Millennium Media, formerly Nu Image, is an American film studio that was founded by Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Danny Dimbort, and Danny Lerner in 1992 and is one of Hollywood's longest running independent film companies. Millennium creates, produce ...

are moving forward with another projected new film, to be directed by

Simon West Simon Alexander West (born 1961) is an English film director and producer. He has primarily worked in the action genre, most notably as the director of the films '' Con Air'', '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'', '' The Mechanic'', and '' The Expend ...

. Producer

Avi Lerner Avinoam Lerner ( he, אבי לרנר; born 13 October 1947) is an Israeli-American film producer, primarily of American action movies. Lerner is the founder and CEO of Millennium Films. Life and career Avi Lerner was born in Haifa, Israel), on ...

has said he would like to see

Amber Heard Amber Laura Heard (born April 22, 1986) is an American actress. She had her first leading role in the horror film '' All the Boys Love Mandy Lane'' (2006), and went on to star in films such as '' The Ward'' (2010) and '' Drive Angry'' (2011). ...

take the role of Sonja, after having worked with her on ''

Drive Angry ''Drive Angry'' (alternatively titled ''Drive Angry 3D'') is a 2011 American action horror film in the grindhouse cinema tradition, directed by Patrick Lussier, who co-wrote it with Todd Farmer. The film stars Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, Wil ...

''. Lerner says the film will shoot before the sequel to ''

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

''. In August 2012, at the premiere of ''

The Expendables 2 ''The Expendables 2'' is a 2012 American action film directed by Simon West, written by Richard Wenk and Sylvester Stallone and based on a story by Ken Kaufman, David Agosto and Wenk. Brian Tyler returned to score the film. It is the sequel t ...

'', West said that the film is still a go and will be out soon. On February 26, 2015, Christopher Cosmos was set to write the screenplay from a scrap. According to ''Deadline'',

Millennium Films A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

would finance and produce a new Red Sonja movie with

and Joe Gatta producing alongside

Cinelou Films Cinelou Films is an American film production and distribution company founded by Courtney Solomon in 2014. The company's first release was ''Cake'' (2014), starring Jennifer Aniston. Background In 2014, Courtney Solomon launched a production comp ...

Mark Canton Mark Canton (born June 19, 1949) is an American film producer and executive. Life and early career Canton was born to a Jewish family in Queens, New York, the son of Shirley and Arthur Canton, who worked in the film industry on marketing and publ ...

and

Courtney Solomon Courtney Solomon (born September 1,1970) is a writer, director, producer, and entrepreneur from Toronto, Ontario. He has been involved with production, marketing and distribution of over 80 movies. Life and career At 19, he formed Sweetpea Ente ...

and writing by Ashley Miller. In October 2018,

Bryan Singer Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Singer ...

was confirmed to direct the film. On February 11, 2019, Millennium Films announced ''Red Sonja'' was no longer on their slate of films, due to recent sexual assault allegations against Singer. In March 2019, Lerner dropped Singer from the project because he was unable to secure a domestic distributor. In June 2019,

Joey Soloway Joey Soloway (previously Jill Soloway; born September 26, 1965) is an American television creator, showrunner, director and writer. Soloway is known for creating, writing, executive producing and directing the Amazon original series '' Transparent ...

signed on to write, direct and produce the film. In February 2021, Tasha Huo was hired to write the script with Soloway, and casting was set to begin. By May,

Hannah John-Kamen Hannah Dominique E. John-Kamen (born 7 September 1989) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Yalena "Dutch" Yardeen in the Syfy television series ''Killjoys'' (2015–2019), Ornela in the sixth season of the HBO series ''Game of ...

was cast in the titular role. In March 2022, John-Kamen and Soloway left, with

M. J. Bassett M. J. Bassett (born Michael J. Bassett) is a British film and television writer, director, and producer. She began her career directing the cult horror films '' Deathwatch'' (2002) and ''Wilderness'' (2006). She also directed the dark fantasy ' ...

replacing Soloway as director. That August, Millennium confirmed that the film had begun production in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

, with

playing the title role. In September 2022, Oliver Trevena was set to appear as Tr'aal. In October 2022,

was cast in an undisclosed role, while Trevena exited the film due to scheduling conflicts. In November 2022,

was cast as

and the mother of Red Sonja. On 12 November 2022, it was reported that filming had been underway for two weeks at studios in the

Thermi Thermi ( el, Θέρμη) is a Southeastern suburb and a municipality in the Thessaloniki regional unit, Greece. Its population was 53,201 at the 2011 census. It is located over the site of ancient Therma Therma or Thermē ( grc, Θέρμα, ) was ...

suburb of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, Greece, with post-production to be completed there as well. The film is based on the

version of the character. These comics introduced a concept where the original

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...

Sonja was killed and replaced by Dynamite's "reincarnation". Luke Lieberman will serve as a producer under Red Sonja LLC, while Nick Barrucci will serve as an executive producer for Dynamite Entertainment.

References

External links

* {{M. J. Bassett 2020s fantasy action films 2020s fantasy adventure films American sword and sorcery films Dynamite Entertainment adaptations Films shot in Bulgaria Films shot in Greece Reboot films Red Sonja Upcoming English-language films