Though updates have been few and far between since, it was announced late last year that 2x Primetime Emmy-nominee Sydney Sweeney (Madame Web; Euphoria; The White Lotus) was set to star in and executive produce a new Barbarella movie for Sony Pictures.
No writer or director was mentioned as being in connection with the project at the time, but according to insider Daniel Richtman (via Patreon), Edgar Wright (Last Night in Soho; Baby Driver; Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World) is now in talks to helm.
Wright has admitted to being a huge fan of the original in the past, and has included it on his best of all time list.
The remake will reportedly be based on both Jean Claude Forest's French comic book series and the cult 1968 adaptation starring Jane Fonda.
Sweeney has previously expressed her excitement to pay homage to the style of the original space-opera - including the titular heroine's risqué outfits - and explained why she is not at all concerned about the sexually-charged/erotic aspects of the story.
“I find power in my femininity,” she told Vanity Fair. “I use my brain, and I use everything that I’m learning every single day in this industry as my power. Knowledge is everything.”
During a recent interview, Fonda made it clear that she's so sure a modern-day take on Barbarella is a good idea, but Sweeney says she would “absolutely love” to speak with her about it, adding that, to her, the original is all about seeing “women own their power.”
Some would argue that this isn't the case, as the movie has been accused of being little more than "sexploitation," but something tells us Sweeney and the studio plan on adding a few more layers to the story... if not to Barb's outfits.
A small-screen take on Barbarella was in development with writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, and Martha De Laurentiis, all involved way back in 2013. Refn revealed that they planned to back to the original comics for their ideas, but the series is believed to have been shelved.
In Barbarella, "an astronaut from the future, is sent on a mission to find and stop an evil scientist whose invention could spell the destruction of the galaxy."
How do you feel about this new Barbarella movie? Were you a fan of the original? Be sure to drop us a comment down below.