Red Sonja

The Red Sonja movie is finally happening after years of development starts and stops. Matilda Lutz will be leading the Red Sonja cast and we have a number of other actors and actresses rounding things out.

After years of starts and stops for the Red Sonja movie, it looks like there is finally one happening. It’s been a long time coming with plenty of missteps and even some injuries along the way. But those are behind us, and the flick is even in production with a lead actress. Let’s take a look at everything we know about the Red Sonja movie.

MATILDA LUTZ IS THE NEW RED SONJA

There had been multiple people rumored for the Red Sonja role over the years, but it’s been confirmed as now being Italian actress Matilda Lutz. She’s been in a number of Italian productions like Classic Horror Story, Revenge, and the series Medici: Masters of Florence. This will be, by far, her biggest role to date.

And there’s a chance, considering the popularity of this IP, that the movie ends up helping her take a bigger star turn with American audiences before it is all said and done.

RED SONJA STARTED FILMING IN AUGUST 2022

This was the other piece of major news around the Red Sonja movie. That not only had it finally gotten out of development hell, but that production was actually underway. The flick was filming in Bulgaria and Greece among other locations and had, obviously, filled out the rest of the cast and the director.

After all, this movie had already had Transparent creator and director Joey Soloway leave the Red Sonja project. He was replaced by Silent Hill: Revelation director M.J. Bassett.

Plus, Ant-Man and the Wasp actor Hannah John-Kamen was cast in May of 2021 to play the iconic barbarian warrior in a long-gestating reboot of the franchise. However, she dropped out of the project (no specific reasons were reported for her departure). Millennium Pictures had an open call for actors for the lead role of the film, which seems a bit dicey seeing as how the production company did not even have a replacement in mind. 

THERE IS NO OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE FOR THE RED SONJA MOVIE

That the movie is actually filming is a good sign that there will, at some point, be a release date. That is one of the most positive signs one can get. But in terms of an official timeline, that is far from set. Maybe 2023 would be the earliest we could realistically expect the movie from Millennium Films.

THE FIRST RED SONJA MOVIE CAME OUT IN 1985 WITH BRIGITTE NEILSEN AND ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

This will not be the first attempt at a Red Sonja film. In fact, one has already been made. The film came out in 1985 and starred Brigitte Nielsen as the titular character and also co-starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Lord Kalidor and Sandahl Bergman as the evil Queen Gedren of Berkubane.

The film was an absolute bomb. It was made for almost $18 million, which at the time was a significant budget, but the movie brought in a mere $6.9 million at the box office. It even prompted co-star Schwarzenegger to remark via Xfinity, “It’s the worst film I have ever made.” Then he joked, “Now I tell my kids that, if they get out of line, they’ll be forced to watch Red Sonja ten times in a row. It must be working, because I’ve never had much trouble with any of them.”

ROSE MCGOWAN AND ROBERT RODRIGUEZ WERE ATTACHED TO A REBOOT

Despite that horrific movie, a second helping of Red Sonja continued to be bounced around. Robert Rodriguez, along with his Troublemaker Studios production company, was ready to get a Red Sonja rolling in 2008 that would have had actress Rose McGowan appear as big Red. That fell through for a couple of different reasons, one of them being McGowan was injured on the set of the movie. She lost movement in one of her arms after a stunt went wrong.

That injury led to production being halted permanently on the film. She was hospitalized and things never started back up. She had wrist and elbow surgery as a result of the accident.

THERE WERE OTHER ATTEMPTS AT A MOVIE

In 2010, Simon West was brought on to direct a new Red Sonja. Avi Lerner, who was producing the movie at the time, said he wanted Amber Heard to take over the role of Red Sonja. But two years later, during the premiere of The Expendables 2, West informed fans that Red Sonja was stuck in production hell.

Fast forward to 2017 and Millennium Films. They took over the project, though Avi Lerner was still attached to produce, and added were Joe Gatta, Cinelou Films’ Mark Canton, and Courtney Solomon. It was then reported in September 2018 that Millennium was looking at Bryan Singer to direct the film. By October of that same year, Singer was confirmed. Things seemed to finally be set. Until they weren’t.

In February 2019, Millennium removed Red Sonja from their production slate because of the sexual abuse allegations leveled at Singer. The director, who is well known for movies such as The Usual Suspects, the X-Men franchise, Superman Returns, Valkyrie, and Bohemian Rhapsody, has been the subject of many allegations of sexual abuse throughout his career. In fact, his travesties were so well known that 4,000 students, faculty, and alumni at the University of Southern California all signed a petition asking the University to remove the director’s name from one of its programs.

RED SONJA WAS CREATED IN THE 1970s

Red Sonja has been around since the early ‘70s. She was created for Marvel Comics by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith and debuted in Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian. As her beginnings are quite graphic, it is not known how Soloway and Huo plan to tackle it.

Before she becomes Red Sonja, she is living happily with her family in a humble home. A group of mercenaries arrives, killing her family and burning down their home. When Red tries to defend herself, she is raped by the group’s leader and left for dead.

Her cries for revenge are heard. The red goddess Scáthach arrives, giving Sonja incredible fighting skills that she can use if Sonja promises never to lie with a man unless the man can beat her in a fair fight. Will this be part of the story Soloway and Huo wish to tell?

Also unknown is just what Red Sonja will be wearing. Throughout most of her comic book time, Red Sonja appears in bikini armor. It is a chainmail bikini along with boots and gauntlets. We will have to wait and see if Matilda Lutz will get the same iconic outfit.