After over a decade spent attempting to get the project moving with multiple writers and directors attached at various different stages, Millennium Films finally managed to put its Red Sonja reboot into production late last year, with Revenge star Matilda Lutz taking over from Ant-Man and the Wasp's Hannah John Kamen as the fearsome warrior of the title
Solomon Kane director M.J. Bassett - who is a huge fan of the She-Devil with a Sword - is now at the helm, and the first trailer screened for those in attendance at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year. We were expecting the footage to be released online shortly after, but we've had no word since.
While speaking to Collider (via SFFGazette.com) about the movie, producer Les Weldon promised that "fans will be able to watch it soon."
"We're just about finished with the editing. That film is very rooted and very real if you will, but there are a couple of sequences that we have to get the CGI right so that you don't look at it and go, 'Oh, that creature wasn't quite there.' So we finished the film, and we're ready to get into the next part of post on it."
When asked how Red Sonja compares to another upcoming reboot he's involved with, Hellboy: The Crooked Man, Weldon mentioned that this will be a "little bit of a darker take than you would expect."
"Well, Red Sonja is also a little bit of a, I don't wanna say a darker take, but a little bit darker take than you would expect, certainly compared to the original Red Sonja. We want to be very careful with the CG to make sure it's done properly and does the film a service rather than a disservice."
It wouldn't be difficult to be grittier than the campy original, but it doesn't sound like this adaptation will be going too dark.
During 2022 interview, Bassett revealed that she decided to alter a key aspect of Sonya's backstory: her brutal rape by marauding enemies.
“I have no interest in fictional women who use [rape] as an engine of motivation,” she said. “It’s not a strong motivation. She’s just a human being in the world of femininity.”
One potentially controversial staple of the character that will be staying, however, is her revealing chain-mail bikini. While Bassett acknowledged that Sonja “became a character for prepubescent 13-year-olds that was never accessible beyond,” the filmmaker clearly felt that Sonja's signature outfit shouldn't be tampered with.
Red Sonja also features Wallis Day as Annisia, Robert Sheehan as Draygan, Michael Bisping as Hawk, Martyn Ford as General Karlak and Eliza Matengu as Amarak.