The reboot of Red Sonja was announced back in 2017 with the intent of fast-tracking it to production, and last year Bohemian Rhapsody director Bryan Singer was brought aboard to helm the movie. Then, earlier this year, Millennium Films put the swords and sorcery property on hold. Now Red Sonja is back on, but Bryan Singer will not be the person directing it.
Bryan Singer has been dropped from Red Sonja and Transparent creator Jill Soloway has been tapped to write and direct the film, according to Deadline. Soloway is said to have a “bold new take” on the property, and that take and the hiring of Soloway has apparently already drawn interest from studios for the Millennium Films production. Andrea Sperling, who is partners with Jill Soloway in Topple Productions, is also joining Red Sonja as producer.
Jill Soloway is probably best known for being the creator of Amazon’s Emmy-winning Transparent as well as I Love Dick. In addition to the aforementioned productions, Jill’s writing credits also include episodes of United States of Tara and Six Feet Under. On the movies front, Soloway wrote and directed the 2013 comedy Afternoon Delight but this will easily be their biggest directorial effort yet. Soloway called the Red Sonja opportunity “an artistic dream come true.”
Despite being fired from Bohemian Rhapsody, Bryan Singer was still attached to Red Sonja and expected to command a huge payday for the film. But allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against the director surfaced. The writing seemed to be on the wall after that, even though Singer was still publicly attached to the film.
Distributors had no interest in a movie about a sexual assault survivor as long as Bryan Singer was directing, and Millennium Films would have likely had an issue finding an actress to play the part under the circumstances. So Bryan Singer was dropped from Red Sonja.
When that happened, the movie was put on hold and Millennium Films went back to the drawing board; the gig ultimately went to Jill Soloway. Now Soloway and Topple Productions have to begin the process of writing, casting and prepping Red Sonja for production. Since that is still a heavy load, it is likely that Jill Soloway will direct something else beforehand, having nearly finished up Transparent.
No word yet on what Jill Soloway’s take on the property is or who might be eyed to play the heroine, but it is exciting that this movie is finally back on track after years and years in development hell. Hopefully Red Sonja will actually happen this time around.
We’ll keep you updated on Red Sonja as news develops. In the meantime, check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see what’s headed your way the rest of this year.
