This one has seemingly been in the wind for a while as a rumor or wishlist, but it seems to have panned out regardless. “Baby Driver” filmmaker Edgar Wright is in talks to direct Sydney Sweeney in the long-gestating remake of “Barbarella.” The “Euphoria” star has been attached to the project since 2022, but there’s been little movement on it, other than a desire to make it, until now.
According to Deadline, screenwriters Jane Goldman and Honey Ross are negotiating to pen a new “Barbarella” script. The 1968 sci-fi comedy original is a camp classic from director Roger Vadim and starring Jane Fonda in an iconic performance. Set in the 41st century, in the original film, an astronaut partakes in sexy misadventures while seeking to stop an evil scientist who threatens to bring evil back into the galaxy. Noted satirist screenwriter and author Terry Southern (“Dr. Strangelove,” “Easy Rider”) was a writer.
This project makes two remakes currently in the works for Wright, but it won’t be the filmmaker’s next film. Picking up more steam is Wright’s upcoming remake of “The Running Man,” which recently just added Glenn Powell to the cast and looks like it’s heading into pre-production soon (ironically, Sweeney’s co-star in their hit rom-com, “Anyone But You”). In that regard, Wright might be about to work with two of the fastest rocketing-to-the-A-list stars. The filmmaker is also known for “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” the Cornetto trilogy, and 2021’s “Last Night in Soho” starring Anya Taylor-Joy.
“Barbarella” is yet another Sony Pictures film for Sweeney, which shows the studio, which recently featured her in “Madame Web,” and the aforementioned “Anyone But You,” are looking to stay in business with the rising star.
Attached as a writer, Jane Goldman points to franchise potential and, at least, Sony’s desire to do more than one film. Goldman has helped launch franchise films like Matthew Vaughn’s “X-Men: First Class” reboot, as well as his “The Kingsmen: Secret Service” series. We haven’t heard that much from the screenwriter of late. Her last produced movie screenplay was 2020’s “Rebecca” for Netflix, though she has apparently written “Kingsman: The Blue Blood,” the would-be working title for the next ‘Kingsman’ movie as well.
Goldman also wrote an adaptation of the kidnapping novel, “The Chain,” also intended to be one of the many projects Wright has been developing over the last few years, so clearly, they have a favorable and working rapport (it’s a project that was once rumored for Emma Stone, but those claims were shot down last year). [Deadline]