Red Sonja film in post-production, release date is unknown

[Deleted]

May 14, 2022 9:54:35 GMT -5 kemp said:

oh no, not the countless instagram with the 'hi, here having a coffee in Bulgaria, so tired'.......etcetera etcetera  

...MJ Bassett in Aghrapur, Turan...Sorry I mean in Sofia, Bulgaria 

http://instagram.com/p/CdigSFDqH_m

[hyrkanian]

May 4, 2022 9:22:14 GMT -5 kemp said:

I suppose in some ways it's sad how the Red Sonja character is sexualised so. The whole thing about being drawn so sexy with the chain mail bikini, but unattainable at the same time, the rape origin story, and the not being with a man unless he has beaten her in a fight. 


 

That was probably the idea when the character was created. A beautiful and invincible warrior in chain mail bikini you can't win.

Watch but don't touch, a woman beyond the reach of an ordinary man/warrior. It is one of the main reasons why the character survived and remained popular after fifty years.

There was an insightful comment on the classiccomics.org forum:

Senatortombstone                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Please correct me if I am wrong, but such as I understand
it, the origin of Marvel’s Red Sonja is that she was granted her battle prowess by her patron, red-haired goddess Scáthach – after being helpless to prevent the slaughter of her family and her own ravishment at the hands of Hyrkanian bandits. The condition of her boon is that she will ever possess it, until she is defeated by a man in fair combat and then lies with that man.
Perhaps this stipulation of celibacy was created to keep in line with the Comics Code Authority and/or because the idea of a sword-wielding, unmarried female freely engaging in intimate relations with a myriad of men would not have gone over well with the parents of children purchasing the Red Sonja titles.
I don’t find the divine origin of Red Sonja’s battle prowess to be misogynistic or paternalistic. I think it actually makes more sense than saying that she just fought in a lot of battles and got better over time. Red Sonja is somewhat petite, busty, not overly muscular, and often wears outfits that accentuate her womanly features and that offer scant protection from blade points and arrowheads.
She also keeps company with and even leads rough lots of men, the sort of which that would not be averse to forcing themselves upon a woman. Even though Red Sonja could be strong enough to fend off one or two ravagers, eventually even she would be overwhelmed by a sufficient number of blue-balled brigands driven mad with lust.
What about her tempestuously tantalizing table-top tavern dances that are just that and never lead to anything more than starchy loincloths for the lust-filled onlookers?
Surely, she has had to fend off hordes of horny Hyborians who otherwise would have had their way with her.
That none of this has ever happened after being granted her boon (ignoring the hopefully apocryphal CtB#197-198) is evidence to me that her strength and prowess is more than what a normal woman could have attained through hard work, practice, and diligence.
Also, Red Sonja appears in Conan the King #28 and she still
looks as young as she did in chronologically antecedent issues of CtB and SSoC.
Assuming that she would be the same age as Conan, which would put her in her late fifties or even early sixties, she looks nothing like a typical woman that aged.
She also still fights with the vigor of her youth. Now, I know that some of King Conan’s physical feats and exploits are more than a stretch (holding open the jaw of tyrannosaurus rex while in its maw? Ugh!), but he is still a man who is peak human condition for his age. I just find it hard to believe that a sixty year-old woman could be as physically fit and attractive as Red Sonja was in CtK#28. Then again, artists have not always done a great job of conveying Conan’s age, in all of his appearances as a middle-aged and aging man.
However, perhaps immortality or long-life was an added,
albeit undisclosed to the readers – boon granted to Red Sonja by Scáthach?

Regarding the Iron Maidens, Bêlit, Valeria, and other various femme fatales appearing in Conan comics over the years; these sorts of women are less plausible to me than is Red Sonja. While there are definitely tough women out there, who are capable of besting strong men, they are rare and it is impossible for me to imagine that any woman or small group of women in the Hyborian Age, who were as attractive as Bêlit, Valeria, or the Iron Maidens, would have had the desire to become pirates or mercenaries – even if they had the ability to do so and to do it well.
This is not to say that I do not like these characters or enjoy the stories they are featured in – quite the contrary, actually. I am only saying that in some instances of characterizations of women warriors, that is there is difficulty in maintaining a suspension of disbelief.
That suspension is easier to maintain with Red Sonja, due to the divine origins of her battle prowess.
That Red Sonja’s prowess came from a goddess helps to
explain why it is that she can always hold off a horde of horny Hyborians. How does Valeria captain a ship full of pirates without being set upon (Bêlit’s crew believed she was a death goddess and so they not only left her alone, they worshipped her)? If strong men are raped in prison, I cannot imagine how a beautiful woman would fare as the sole female on a ship full of murderous pirates and rogues.
To me, Red Sonja is actually the most powerful of all these
women.
She was once the weak victim of evil men and then was given the power to defeat nearly any man in battle. This power came at the cost of not being able to know a man and keep her powers at the same time. This might seem unfair, but she was given a chance and a choice that no other similarly victimized woman was given. She can live her life as she will, on her own terms, without a man at her side, or she can surrender her security to the man who bests her in
battle. In the Hyborian age and in practically every other age, the only way for a woman to be reasonably secure was to find a man to protect her. Red Sonja has no need of any man; she knows this and constantly flaunts her femininity at all of the men who want her – including strong men, worthy of her (e.g. Conan) – and then snatches it back from them, before they can get a taste. There is definitely part of her that wants to be conquered by a worthy man, but the part of her that wants to be her own woman always wins in the end. She is a tease. She knows it. Conan knows it. And they both love each other for it. She is the only woman who has never yielded to Conan and the only woman to whom he would
surrender even his kingdom for a taste of - and that is makes her the most powerful woman.

With the exception of reissues of old Conan episodes, Sonja's new comics sell even better than Conan's.
Both Valeria and Belit deserved better treatment by the entertainment industry, at least like Sonja, but the fact is that their comic book editions did not survive (I do not have high hopes for their new team-up edition either after I read the first issue), and that even their figures and statues were very rare. There is no chance we’ll see Valeria or Belit on the screen soon. Cosplayers? Hard to find.

kemp said:                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Maybe that's why I always preferred warrior women such as Valeria and Belit, they can be sexy, but sex is a side element to their character, they can shag if they want to, or not, without that being paramount, whereas Red is defined by it to a strong degree.

Yes, In order to deal with Sonja, you also need a good psychologist.

kemp said:                                                                                                                                                                                                                              I will take my chances with Valeria.

Between those 3 female warriors, Valeria would be the safest option.

But if you need a bodyguard to follow you through the Hyborian world, there's no doubt who you should pay.

kemp said:                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Maybe I would look for inspiration from gritty westerns from the 60's and 70's, a violent rape, add a revenge motive,

Good idea. I'm sure Roy Thomas found inspiration for Sonja's origin in the rape-revenge exploitation movies from the 70s. 

But unlike those directors and screenwriters, he imagined an original way of revenge to the rapist.
After a few years, Sonja accidentally finds the man who raped her. She unknowingly saved him from some robbers who tied him up and tortured him.

When she recognized him, she realized that he did not recognize her because he had gone mad from torture.

Sonja did not finish him off, but she left him to the wolves.

May 5, 2022 9:31:16 GMT -5 kemp said:

I really dig this fan film concept take on Red Sonja. The actress looks tough, beautiful, dangerous, love her expression. 

I remember this teaser, they were just collecting money to shoot RS fan movie, so they didn't have the appropriate costumes.

As far as I remember, they didn't reveal who stopped their project – Luke Lieberman (the owner of the rights to RS) or Millennium Films who are preparing a feature film.

However, it is a great pity that they did not manage to finish it, because this teaser shows dedication and skill.

Mandy Stockholm is maybe a little skinny for a chain mail bikini but she looks cool as Sonja and really convincing as a warrior.

Another RS fan film (French) that unfortunately will not see the light of day:

 

They managed to sew costumes and get weapons, but not to raise money to finish the shooting.

May 6, 2022 8:46:10 GMT -5 zarono said:

Just for nostalgia let's take a look at the other appearance of the She Devil with a sword on film, Angelica Bridges as Red Sonja in the 1998 Conan tv show. It was cheap and cheesy but still fun to watch.

Yes, Angelica is still the best Sonja we saw on the movie/TV screen so far.

May 10, 2022 7:36:34 GMT -5 zarono said:

"I’m going to build a fantastical world of magic and monsters and tell a story about the things that matter to me while taking everyone on an action packed and epic journey."
 Sounds cool

Yes, it does, but this worries me:

I don’t know what that could be, I hope it won't be a lecture on transgender politics.
Or maybe, since MJ was wild life veterinarian in Africa and has “obsession with wildlife and nature", Sonja is going to save some unicorn from extinction and she is going to fight against ore mining of Hyrkanian land.

[Jason Aiken]

May 16, 2022 7:41:27 GMT -5 hyrkanian said:

I don’t know what that could be, I hope it won't be a lecture on transgender politics.
Or maybe, since MJ was wild life veterinarian in Africa and has “obsession with wildlife and nature", Sonja is going to save some unicorn from extinction and she is going to fight against ore mining of Hyrkanian land.

Given her body of work, I think we'll be okay. She doesn't seem to be the type to lecture the rest of the world. She seems to enjoy writing and directing genre films and television.

[kemp]

May 16, 2022 7:41:27 GMT -5 hyrkanian said:

May 4, 2022 9:22:14 GMT -5 kemp said:

I suppose in some ways it's sad how the Red Sonja character is sexualised so. The whole thing about being drawn so sexy with the chain mail bikini, but unattainable at the same time, the rape origin story, and the not being with a man unless he has beaten her in a fight. 


 

That was probably the idea when the character was created. A beautiful and invincible warrior in chain mail bikini you can't win.

Watch but don't touch, a woman beyond the reach of an ordinary man/warrior. It is one of the main reasons why the character survived and remained popular after fifty years.

There was an insightful comment on the classiccomics.org forum:

Senatortombstone                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Please correct me if I am wrong, but such as I understand
it, the origin of Marvel’s Red Sonja is that she was granted her battle prowess by her patron, red-haired goddess Scáthach – after being helpless to prevent the slaughter of her family and her own ravishment at the hands of Hyrkanian bandits. The condition of her boon is that she will ever possess it, until she is defeated by a man in fair combat and then lies with that man.
Perhaps this stipulation of celibacy was created to keep in line with the Comics Code Authority and/or because the idea of a sword-wielding, unmarried female freely engaging in intimate relations with a myriad of men would not have gone over well with the parents of children purchasing the Red Sonja titles.
I don’t find the divine origin of Red Sonja’s battle prowess to be misogynistic or paternalistic. I think it actually makes more sense than saying that she just fought in a lot of battles and got better over time. Red Sonja is somewhat petite, busty, not overly muscular, and often wears outfits that accentuate her womanly features and that offer scant protection from blade points and arrowheads.
She also keeps company with and even leads rough lots of men, the sort of which that would not be averse to forcing themselves upon a woman. Even though Red Sonja could be strong enough to fend off one or two ravagers, eventually even she would be overwhelmed by a sufficient number of blue-balled brigands driven mad with lust.
What about her tempestuously tantalizing table-top tavern dances that are just that and never lead to anything more than starchy loincloths for the lust-filled onlookers?
Surely, she has had to fend off hordes of horny Hyborians who otherwise would have had their way with her.
That none of this has ever happened after being granted her boon (ignoring the hopefully apocryphal CtB#197-198) is evidence to me that her strength and prowess is more than what a normal woman could have attained through hard work, practice, and diligence.
Also, Red Sonja appears in Conan the King #28 and she still
looks as young as she did in chronologically antecedent issues of CtB and SSoC.
Assuming that she would be the same age as Conan, which would put her in her late fifties or even early sixties, she looks nothing like a typical woman that aged.
She also still fights with the vigor of her youth. Now, I know that some of King Conan’s physical feats and exploits are more than a stretch (holding open the jaw of tyrannosaurus rex while in its maw? Ugh!), but he is still a man who is peak human condition for his age. I just find it hard to believe that a sixty year-old woman could be as physically fit and attractive as Red Sonja was in CtK#28. Then again, artists have not always done a great job of conveying Conan’s age, in all of his appearances as a middle-aged and aging man.
However, perhaps immortality or long-life was an added,
albeit undisclosed to the readers – boon granted to Red Sonja by Scáthach?

Regarding the Iron Maidens, Bêlit, Valeria, and other various femme fatales appearing in Conan comics over the years; these sorts of women are less plausible to me than is Red Sonja. While there are definitely tough women out there, who are capable of besting strong men, they are rare and it is impossible for me to imagine that any woman or small group of women in the Hyborian Age, who were as attractive as Bêlit, Valeria, or the Iron Maidens, would have had the desire to become pirates or mercenaries – even if they had the ability to do so and to do it well.
This is not to say that I do not like these characters or enjoy the stories they are featured in – quite the contrary, actually. I am only saying that in some instances of characterizations of women warriors, that is there is difficulty in maintaining a suspension of disbelief.
That suspension is easier to maintain with Red Sonja, due to the divine origins of her battle prowess.
That Red Sonja’s prowess came from a goddess helps to
explain why it is that she can always hold off a horde of horny Hyborians. How does Valeria captain a ship full of pirates without being set upon (Bêlit’s crew believed she was a death goddess and so they not only left her alone, they worshipped her)? If strong men are raped in prison, I cannot imagine how a beautiful woman would fare as the sole female on a ship full of murderous pirates and rogues.
To me, Red Sonja is actually the most powerful of all these
women.
She was once the weak victim of evil men and then was given the power to defeat nearly any man in battle. This power came at the cost of not being able to know a man and keep her powers at the same time. This might seem unfair, but she was given a chance and a choice that no other similarly victimized woman was given. She can live her life as she will, on her own terms, without a man at her side, or she can surrender her security to the man who bests her in
battle. In the Hyborian age and in practically every other age, the only way for a woman to be reasonably secure was to find a man to protect her. Red Sonja has no need of any man; she knows this and constantly flaunts her femininity at all of the men who want her – including strong men, worthy of her (e.g. Conan) – and then snatches it back from them, before they can get a taste. There is definitely part of her that wants to be conquered by a worthy man, but the part of her that wants to be her own woman always wins in the end. She is a tease. She knows it. Conan knows it. And they both love each other for it. She is the only woman who has never yielded to Conan and the only woman to whom he would
surrender even his kingdom for a taste of - and that is makes her the most powerful woman.

With the exception of reissues of old Conan episodes, Sonja's new comics sell even better than Conan's.
Both Valeria and Belit deserved better treatment by the entertainment industry, at least like Sonja, but the fact is that their comic book editions did not survive (I do not have high hopes for their new team-up edition either after I read the first issue), and that even their figures and statues were very rare. There is no chance we’ll see Valeria or Belit on the screen soon. Cosplayers? Hard to find.

kemp said:                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Maybe that's why I always preferred warrior women such as Valeria and Belit, they can be sexy, but sex is a side element to their character, they can shag if they want to, or not, without that being paramount, whereas Red is defined by it to a strong degree.

Yes, In order to deal with Sonja, you also need a good psychologist.

kemp said:                                                                                                                                                                                                                              I will take my chances with Valeria.

Between those 3 female warriors, Valeria would be the safest option.

But if you need a bodyguard to follow you through the Hyborian world, there's no doubt who you should pay.

kemp said:                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Maybe I would look for inspiration from gritty westerns from the 60's and 70's, a violent rape, add a revenge motive,

Good idea. I'm sure Roy Thomas found inspiration for Sonja's origin in the rape-revenge exploitation movies from the 70s. 

But unlike those directors and screenwriters, he imagined an original way of revenge to the rapist.
After a few years, Sonja accidentally finds the man who raped her. She unknowingly saved him from some robbers who tied him up and tortured him.

When she recognized him, she realized that he did not recognize her because he had gone mad from torture.

Sonja did not finish him off, but she left him to the wolves.

May 5, 2022 9:31:16 GMT -5 kemp said:

I really dig this fan film concept take on Red Sonja. The actress looks tough, beautiful, dangerous, love her expression. 

I remember this teaser, they were just collecting money to shoot RS fan movie, so they didn't have the appropriate costumes.

As far as I remember, they didn't reveal who stopped their project – Luke Lieberman (the owner of the rights to RS) or Millennium Films who are preparing a feature film.

However, it is a great pity that they did not manage to finish it, because this teaser shows dedication and skill.

Mandy Stockholm is maybe a little skinny for a chain mail bikini but she looks cool as Sonja and really convincing as a warrior.

Another RS fan film (French) that unfortunately will not see the light of day:

 

They managed to sew costumes and get weapons, but not to raise money to finish the shooting.

May 6, 2022 8:46:10 GMT -5 zarono said:

Just for nostalgia let's take a look at the other appearance of the She Devil with a sword on film, Angelica Bridges as Red Sonja in the 1998 Conan tv show. It was cheap and cheesy but still fun to watch.

Yes, Angelica is still the best Sonja we saw on the movie/TV screen so far.

May 10, 2022 7:36:34 GMT -5 zarono said:

"I’m going to build a fantastical world of magic and monsters and tell a story about the things that matter to me while taking everyone on an action packed and epic journey."
 Sounds cool

Yes, it does, but this worries me:

I don’t know what that could be, I hope it won't be a lecture on transgender politics.
Or maybe, since MJ was wild life veterinarian in Africa and has “obsession with wildlife and nature", Sonja is going to save some unicorn from extinction and she is going to fight against ore mining of Hyrkanian land.

That was probably the idea when the character was created. A beautiful and invincible warrior in chain mail bikini you can't win.

Watch but don't touch, a woman beyond the reach of an ordinary man/warrior. It is one of the main reasons why the character survived and remained popular after fifty years.

I can see the attraction in having a character with such contrasting elements even though it may be more than a little problematic.

Perhaps this stipulation of celibacy was created to keep in line with the Comics Code Authority and/or because the idea of a sword-wielding, unmarried female freely engaging in intimate relations with a myriad of men would not have gone over well with the parents of children purchasing the Red Sonja titles.

No one thinks much about Conan or James Bond shagging every woman around, but a female protagonist doing the same with men raises some eyebrows. I read somewhere that a 'A slut is a woman with the morals of a man', crude, but I can see the point. Right or wrong, men and women are judged by different standards. It is just the way it is.

Thinking about it you can say that Red Sonja is 'saving herself' for the right man. 

Yes, In order to deal with Sonja, you also need a good psychologist.

Red Sonja is certainly an enigma of sorts and would make for one interesting partner in crime. I can rely on her in a fight, but Red may have more than a few doubts about my fighting abilities 

'I don’t know what that could be, I hope it won't be a lecture on transgender politics.

Or maybe, since MJ was wild life veterinarian in Africa and has “obsession with wildlife and nature", Sonja is going to save some unicorn from extinction and she is going to fight against ore mining of Hyrkanian land.'

That just may be the case, we shall see. I did like the Solomon Kane movie. I will give M.J. Bassett the benefit of the doubt.

[johnnypt]

It’s the Dion Dichotomy of the Wanderer being cool and Runaround Sue being a tramp.

[Deleted]

May 16, 2022 7:41:27 GMT -5 hyrkanian said:

May 10, 2022 7:36:34 GMT -5 zarono said:

"I’m going to build a fantastical world of magic and monsters and tell a story about the things that matter to me while taking everyone on an action packed and epic journey."
 Sounds cool

Yes, it does, but this worries me:

I don’t know what that could be, I hope it won't be a lecture on transgender politics.
Or maybe, since MJ was wild life veterinarian in Africa and has “obsession with wildlife and nature", Sonja is going to save some unicorn from extinction and she is going to fight against ore mining of Hyrkanian land.

I dunno, if it is the nature stuff, it sounds pretty similar to some of the ideas of the previous director Joey Soloway. Maybe MJ Bassett kept and expanded upon certain elements from the Joey Soloway & Tasha Huo script?

 “There could not be a greater moment in our world for Red Sonja’s ways of wielding power and her connection with nature and our planet.” Soloway also noted that Sonja is “an ancient heroine with an epic calling.”

Link:
www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/red-sonja-hannah-john-kamen-movie-casting-exclusive-4174678/

[bonesaw]

May 16, 2022 7:41:27 GMT -5 hyrkanian said:

I don’t know what that could be, I hope it won't be a lecture on transgender politics.
Or maybe, since MJ was wild life veterinarian in Africa and has “obsession with wildlife and nature", Sonja is going to save some unicorn from extinction and she is going to fight against ore mining of Hyrkanian land.

I don't like the sound of that either. Not with what the trend has been lately. Odds are it will be about something politically current when you have statement like that. 

[Deleted]

May 17, 2022 5:58:48 GMT -5 bonesaw said:

May 16, 2022 7:41:27 GMT -5 hyrkanian said:

I don’t know what that could be, I hope it won't be a lecture on transgender politics.
Or maybe, since MJ was wild life veterinarian in Africa and has “obsession with wildlife and nature", Sonja is going to save some unicorn from extinction and she is going to fight against ore mining of Hyrkanian land.

I don't like the sound of that either. Not with what the trend has been lately. Odds are it will be about something politically current when you have statement like that. 

Don't forget that could mean anything.

After all, MJ Bassett is also a fan of REH and a pretty good film maker.

[zarono]

May 18, 2022 7:41:14 GMT -5 @hunnu said:

May 17, 2022 5:58:48 GMT -5 bonesaw said:

I don't like the sound of that either. Not with what the trend has been lately. Odds are it will be about something politically current when you have statement like that. 

Don't forget that could mean anything.

After all, MJ Bassett is also a fan of REH and a pretty good film maker.

Agree, I became a lot more interested in this movie once Bassett came on board.

[Monster]

Yeah, everyone overreacting and getting their feathers ruffled. It could very well mean: telling a story about Red Sonja with the things that matter to her about . . . Red Sonja!?

Heck, one could argue a really brutal film with an unapologetic female lead could, in itself, be quite political.

I feel this is in better hands than its ever been. I'll remain hopeful.

[zarono]

Given she's an REH fan I'm thinking she'll give an interesting take on the Hyborian Age.

[moonlightshadow]

MJ Bassett's last two movie were horrible by all accounts (I haven't seen them myself) and "Solomon Kane" while not bad wasn't really that good either.

But I agree that it's good that she at least has some interest in REH.
Not that Red Sonja has much to do with Howard anyway but maybe the movie will at least feel like it takes place in Howard's Hyborian Age and not in some generic fantasy world.

[johnnypt]

Seems; that MJ's TV works seems to be more highly regarded than the movies

[zarono]

Bassett's Solomon Kane deviated a lot from REH but I enjoyed it, I think the same style will work well with Red Sonja. I'm curious how all this will play out with the Hyborian Age setting since it will be basically beating any recent Conan adaptation to the punch in portraying the setting on screen. Who knows, maybe it will be connected with 2011 Conan. I wouldn't mind seeing a Momoa Conan and Red Sonja team up someday.

[karasuthecrow]

May 19, 2022 16:30:23 GMT -5 zarono said:

Bassett's Solomon Kane deviated a lot from REH but I enjoyed it, I think the same style will work well with Red Sonja. I'm curious how all this will play out with the Hyborian Age setting since it will be basically beating any recent Conan adaptation to the punch in portraying the setting on screen. Who knows, maybe it will be connected with 2011 Conan. I wouldn't mind seeing a Momoa Conan and Red Sonja team up someday.

I have heared that most of those changes were studio mandete , maybe with a little more creative freedem the adaptation could be better.