Red Sonjahas given fans a first look at the title character with a new photo of lead star Matilda Lutz that looks ripped straight out of the comics.
Production on aRed Sonjafilm has long been in development. The character was previously adapted to the screen in 1985, but that film was not well received (and was nominated for many Razzies), nor was it a box office success. While it was originally announced thatHannah John-Kamen would play Red Sonjain the reboot, the actress had scheduling conflicts and was replaced with Lutz. Plot details on the film are being kept under wraps for now, but if the recently-released image is anything to go by, it’ll be fairly faithful to the comics.
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Millenium Media released the first still from the movie, which shows Lutz as the She-Devil With a Sword. While her full costume cannot be seen, Lutz is clad in armor and slings a sword over her shoulder as embers surround her. It is known that the cast will be rounded out by Wallis Day as Annisia (Dark Annisia in the comics, antagonistic half-sister to Sonja) and Robert Sheehan, who will be portraying Draygan.
Red Sonja was previously portrayed in the 1985 film by Brigitte Nielsen. Also starring in that film wasArnold Schwarzenegger as Lord Kalidor. Interestingly enough, Schwarzenegger also portrayed Conan the Barbarian in film, and both Conan and Sonja are creations of Robert E. Howard, with Sonja first appearing in Howard’s 1934 short story “The Shadow of the Vulture” before eventually being adapted for Dynamite Entertainment comics by Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith back in 1973.
The film retains some mystery even as the first still has been released. Lutz has carefully been posed so that her costume cannot be fully seen. Red Sonja has infamously commonly been depicted wearing what can best be described as “bikini armor,” and the character practically led the charge for amore sexualized depiction of women’s armor in media. It appears that Millennium Media wants to keep Red Sonja’s full costuming hidden for now, and it will likely cause an internet firestorm when they reveal whether or not they’ve gone with a sexualized depiction of the character.
Lutz does look like she embodies the character, regardless of the costuming. Her performance will be much of what the film relies on, alongside the special effects, which are necessary to bring a sword-and-sorcery world to life.
Red Sonjais in production.
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