The Red Sonja movie that’s been kicking around Hollywood for several years now, has found its lead. Hannah John-Kamen, who played Ghost in Ant-Man and the Wasp, and whose credits include Ready Player One, Tomb Raider, and the upcoming Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, will play the titular character, with Joey Soloway directing a script co-written with Tasha Huo.
Let’s dive into the long, complicated history of the Red Sonja movie, shall we? In 2008, Douglas Aarniokoski was hired to direct a Red Sonja movie, with Robert Rodriguez producing and Rose McGowan set to star. That version of the film never came together, but by 2011, Megan Fox was soon in the running to star. Again, things fell through, but Hollywood never gives up. Soon, Con Air director Simon West was mentioned as a potential new director for the project, with Amber Heard as the star.
Can you guess what happened next? I bet you can. That version of Red Sonja also never happened, and in 2015, Christopher Cosmos was hired to write a new script. That script was nixed in 2018 for one by Ashley Edward Miller, who wrote X-Men: First Class. Later in 2018, Bryan Singer was announced to direct. But almost as soon as Singer’s involvement was announced there was an outcry due to allegations that had been following the filmmaker for years. Those allegations took center stage in 2019 when The Atlantic published an article in which several people accused Singer of sexual misconduct. The stories stretched back nearly 20 years, and in the wake of the article, Red Sonja was put on hold. Later that same year it was announced that Singer was gone and Joey Soloway would now direct.
Now here we are, up to date! The film is seemingly, finally where it needs to be, pre-production-wise. Soloway is still directing, and also handling the script with Tasha Huo. And THR is reporting that Hannah John-Kamen will play Red Sonja herself. “Hannah is a very talented actress who we’ve been following for years and she IS Red Sonja,” said Soloway. “Her range, sensibilities and strength are all qualities we have been looking for and we couldn’t be more excited to embark on this journey together.”
Red Sonja is based on the character created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics’ Conan the Barbarian in the 1970s. She’s a sword-wielding ass-kicker, and John-Kamen will surely get to do a lot of cool fighting throughout the film. Whether or not the end result will be worth all the trouble and fits and starts the project has gone through over the years remains to be seen.
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