Empire is reporting that development on a Red Sonja movie (Red Sonja being a character from Roy Thomas & Barry Windsor-Smith’s Conan the Barbarian comics) is back on track after being through a severe bout of development hell, and that Amber Heard is the frontrunner to play the red-haired, sword-wielding heroine.

Red Sonja was originally set to be produced by Robert Rodriguez, with Rose McGowan starring as the title character. Teaser posters for the movie were even released, but that incarnation of the project was eventually put on hiatus last year. It’s experiencing a comeback now however, with Conan the Barbarian releasing in August, and producer Avi Lerner hoping to shoot Red Sonja in between the first and second Conan movies (Conan 2 is apparently already in development).

Producer Avi Lerner states that while a few actresses are being considered for the role, Amber Heard is the one he likes best, and the one he wants to see don ridiculously small chainmail bikinis (not his words). It’s not a done deal though. Yet.

Here is a picture of Red Sonja. My apologies, but seemingly she has never been illustrated without exaggeratedly huge breasts.

Just so you know what we’re dealing with. The character of Red Sonja has appeared in her own film before, in 1985, played by Brigitte Nielsen; in the film, Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared as Prince Kalindor, and of course we all know that he played Conan in the 1980s Conan movies.

A director has also been “chosen” for the film: Simon West, who has previously helmed Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, When a Stranger Calls and The Mechanic. It’s kinda the sort of director I’d expect for a film such as this. I have absolutely no idea how Conan is going to turn out (directed by Marcus Nispel, director of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th remakes), but I guess Nispel’s horror background might mean we get a lot more gore in our fantasy this time around. It also might be a bit shallow.

The Conan the Barbarian comics are of course based on Robert E. Howard’s 1930s stories.

Amber Heard seems to be a hot topic at the moment, but to be honest I’m not a huge fan. I think I would have preferred Rose McGowan. What do you think? And are you excited for the new upcoming Conanverse?

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Things have been quiet on the Red Sonja front for a while. A few posters were released last year, but then producer Robert Rodriguez and Rose McGowan split. Then they got back together, and now McGowan has taken to her Twitter account to give an update on what’s happening:

To clarify press reports: Red Sonja is delayed. I pulled out of doing it in ’09. Not permanently. Hopefully will follow Conan.

I am still contracted to do Red Sonja. Hopefully Filming in ’10 not ’09

I’ll take a guess that she pulled out because of the split, however Filmonic isn’t a gossip site so I’ll leave it at that. Back in June producer Joe Gatta also said that it would probably start filming next year:

“Because of certain issues and the economy, we had to change our plan a bit,” executive producer Joe Gatta told Empire Magazine . “It’s frustrating because we thought we’d make the movie last year, before Conan.”

Even last month, Gatta explained that Sonja was going to have to wait until after production on “Conan.” As he explained to Empire: “I would say though the emphasis is on Conan [rather than Red Sonja]. It’s our crown jewel here at the company and that will be the leader. Red Sonja probably won’t happen until next year, as far as making it goes. So we want to launch Conan and reinvent the franchise.”

Out of the two i’m not exactly eager to see either film, however I’d probably take Conan over Red Sonja. I also think there are better actresses who could play the character (forget what I said about Filmonic not being a gossip site. McGown only got the part because she’s hooked up with Robert Rodriguez).

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Empire got the chance to speak with Conan producer Joe Gatta who revealed that Brett Ratner is no longer directing the Conan reboot, and that they are currently looking for someone else to direct.

“We’re currently in the process of hiring a director,” he told us. “For the past six months we were discussing the movie with Brett Ratner, and for more timing issues than anything else we had to part ways with Brett. We all wanted him to do it, believe me; just the timing didn’t work. But you never know what can happen.”

However, having no director hasn’t stopped them from setting a start date:

“We have a potential start-date on Conan of August 24. And we’ll be shooting in Bulgaria. I would say though the emphasis is on Conan [rather than Red Sonja]. It’s our crown jewel here at the company and that will be the leader. Red Sonja probably won’t happen until next year, as far as making it goes. So we want to launch Conan and reinvent the franchise.”

As for the hiring of Conan himself, you might want to start pumping some serious iron: Gatta says that, “We’ll have an open casting call: as soon as we hire our director the search is on.”

Personally I didn’t think Ratner was the best director for the project. Whoever they eventually hire will give us a clear idea which direction they are heading. Will it be faithful gritty reboot or a commerical popcorn flick?

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Along with a sudden rush of trailers, we are also getting a surge in new posters. We have an international poster for 20th Century Fox’s The Day the Earth Stood Still, a look at a new poster for Frank Miller’s The Spirit, and a rather erotic poster from Robert Rodriguez’s Red Sonja starring Rose McGowan.

From Latino Review:

From Cinematical:

The Spirit poster removed for the time being due to request

From Movieset:

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Here’s the second Red Sonja poster of the day…

What is it with all of the blood lickin’ chicks these past few days? Is that supposed to be hot or something?

I believe so.

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Splashpage got an exclusive look at a poster for Red Sonja staring Rose McGowan as the red head and produced by Sin City director Robert Rodriguez.

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Last week Robert Rodriguez said the following about his fiancée Rose McGowan:

“Rose is a pistol. She’s whip-smart, has attitude to burn, is sexy, extremely strong, yet has a vulnerable side that would surprise her closest friends. That description also fits Red Sonja.”

He said that in an article by Variety who broke the news that he would be producing a remake of Red Sonja, with Rose McGowan playing the lead.

Cut to today and the pair have apparently split. Now, Filmonic is not a gossip site and couldn’t give a crap who is bonking who, but this shocking revelation could affect Red Sonja and the Barbarella remake. Robert had just managed to get Red Sonja green light and filming was expected to begin in October. Does this mean Rose McGown will be replaced? Or will they be ‘professional’ and carry on regardless?

The gossip sites say the sources believe the split it due to McGowan not being famous enough, therefore Robert cannot get financing for movies such as Barbarella. If this is true then I think Robert Rodriquez should actually hire a casting director and stop using his penis to cast roles. We know Tim Burton does it by casting Helena Bonham Carter in everything, but he has a famous actor who goes by the name of ‘Johnny Depp’ in the movies as well, so they have no problem getting greenlight.

However, I think there are other reasons for the split. You don’t compare your fiancée to the Virgin Mary one week and then split the next. You also don’t split because your partner isn’t famous enough to get movies green light, a week after a movie with your partner in the lead gets green light.

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It seems another 80′s fantasy film is being remade. Rose McGowan has been cast as Red Sonja in Red Sonja, the movie will be produced by Sin City director Robert Rodriguez and will begin filming in October. The casting isn’t too surprising, seeing as though Rose McGowan and Robert Rodriguez have engaged in sexual intercourse many a time and are due to be wed. It also isn’t too surprising that he had this to say:

“Rose is a pistol. She’s whip-smart, has attitude to burn, is sexy, extremely strong, yet has a vulnerable side that would surprise her closest friends. That description also fits Red Sonja.”

Red Sonja will be directed longtime Rodriguez associate Douglas Aarniokoski and the aim is to get a franchise started.

The 1985 version stared a young Arnold Schwarzenegger who said it was the worst film he has ever made, and a crap Brigitte Nielsen as Red Sonja. The movie made a measly $6 million with a $15 million budget and was described as “Hilariously awful” and “Unwatchably bad sword-and-sorcery nonsense”. It appears that Robert Rodriguez has no pressure to live up to previous incarnations, so all he has to do is take notes from female action driven movies such as Aeon Flux, Catwoman and Elektra on how NOT to do things. and we could have a good movie coming our way.

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