Amber Tamblyn wants to direct the Red Sonja movie reboot, following reports that suggest Bryan Singer is no longer working on the project. The Red Sonja comic book character was created back in 1973 and partly inspired by Conan the Barbarian writer Robert E. Howard’s creation of the same name (aka. Red Sonja of Rogatino) in his pulpy 1934 story “The Shadow of the Vulture”. Red Sonja made the jump to the big screen with the 1985 film adaptation starring Brigitte Nielsen, but the project was a critical and commercial bomb that failed to secure a sequel.
Still, the Red Sonja brand has continued to thrive in comic book form since then and has been slated for a big screen reboot for more than ten years now. The film has struggled to secure a green-light since the 2011 Conan reboot bombed at the box office and found itself up to its neck in controversy after Bryan Singer - who was already facing allegations of sexual misconduct at the time - signed on to direct in 2018. Additional sexual abuse allegations have since been made against Singer, but Millennium Films CEO Avi Lerner (who’s been sued for sexual harassment in the past) has yet to officially fire Singer from the Red Sonja reboot.
However, an article published by THR this week claimed that Lerner has, in fact, dropped Singer from Red Sonja, after being unable to secure a domestic distributor for the film. It’s confusing though since, just a day earlier, THR published a separate article stating that Red Sonja is on hold (as previously reported) but Singer is still attached to direct. Whatever the case may be, Tamblyn has already thrown her hat in the ring to replace Singer, in the event that he has been fired or will be in the near future. Take a look, below.
Tamblyn made a name for herself in the 2000s (via her roles in films like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Grudge 2) and has been a proud activist in and supporter of the Time’s Up and Me Too movements for a while, especially since they gained mainstream recognition in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal in 2017. As she mentions in her tweet, Tamblyn also made her directorial debut three years ago on the critically-acclaimed drama Paint It Black and has been looking to direct more since. Again, it’s not actually clear yet if Singer has been dropped from Red Sonja or not, seeing as THR’s most recent articles on the subject contradict one another. Even so, Tamblyn would certainly be a worthy replacement for the job.
Indeed, many people agree that Red Sonja should be directed by a woman, be it Tamblyn or someone else altogether. The character is a morally complicated warrior who’s long had a violent history, going on through to Gail Simon’s celebrated comic book reboot in 2013 (which smartly removed sexual assault from her backstory). Much like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel before her, Red Sonja would no doubt benefit from having a female storyteller bringing her adventures to life, for related reasons. That being said: we will let you know when we get confirmation about Singer’s involvement or lack thereof with the film.
MORE: Arnold Schwarzenegger Explains Legend of Conan’s Development Issues
Source: Amber Tamblyn, THR
