In 2023, the Red Sonja reboot by director M. J. Bassett finished filming and subsequently sat on a shelf for the better part of two years. Now, Red Sonja may finally be coming to theaters in the United States now that the film has an American distributor.
As reported by Deadline, Samuel Goldwyn Films has picked up the domestic rights for Red Sonja with an eye on releasing the film later this year. Last month, Signature Entertainment picked up the movie’s United Kingdom and Irish rights.
Red Sonja is based on a character named Red Sonya that was created in 1934 by Robert E. Howard, the man behind Conan the Barbarian‘s pulp stories. In the 1970s, writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor Smith adapted Sonya into Red Sonja, a “she-devil with a sword” who was one of Conan’s contemporaries in the Marvel comics of that era. The rights for Conan and Red Sonja eventually diverged, and Sonja’s current adventures are published by Dynamite Entertainment.
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Matilda Lutz is set to become the second actress to play Red Sonja on the big screen. Brigitte Nielsen originated the role in the 1985 Red Sonja movie. Conan the Barbarian actor Arnold Schwarzenegger co-starred in that film, but not as his iconic character. Instead, Schwarzenegger played Lord Kalidor, a more conventional love interest for Sonja.
The new film will feature Sonja going up against the evil Draygan (Robert Sheehan) and his bride, Dark Annisia (Wallis Day), who was once Sonja’s best friend in the comics. Other cast members include Rhona Mitra, Kate Nichols, Danica Davis, Michael Bisping, and Veronica Ferres.