Sydney Sweeney remains the most booked woman in Hollywood right now. With a new season of Euphoria round the corner, plus her crime drama National Anthem and the Spider-Man spin-off Madame Webb coming soon, you would’ve thought she’d be taking a well-earned break. But work has already begun behind the scenes for her next movie project, and it’s rumoured to be her second as a producer: an adaptation of the sci-fi classic Barbarella.
But not everyone is excited for the much anticipated remake of the 60s cult classic. Jane Fonda, AKA the star of the original Barbarella movie, recently shared that she had some concerns over the remake. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor confirmed she would not be involved in the new film and, when asked what she thought about the project, responded: “I try not to. Because I worry about what it’s going to be. I had an idea of how to do it that [original producer] Dino De Laurentiis, when he was still alive, wouldn’t listen to. But it could have been a truly feminist movie.” With Sydney taking on a producer role for this movie however, perhaps there will be a new perspective and vision that can win Jane over. After all, Sydney herself has spoken out previously about the male gaze, feeling uncomfortable during sex scenes on set and taking control of how much nudity is necessary for her roles.
According to Deadline, the project is in the early stages of development through Sony Pictures, and no writer or director has been attached to it at this point. The original French comic book was written by Jean-Claude Forest, causing outrage when it was first published in 1962 for its pornographic content. It’s considered a pioneering erotic comic book today, and its most famous adaptation was the 1968 film with Jane Fonda in the lead. Although that film was a box office bomb, it has stood the test of time and become a veritable cult classic. Fun fact: Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn has been trying to adapt the source material into a TV show for about a decade, but hasn’t succeeded. Perhaps he’ll join this version instead.
As Barbarella has had many adventures in various comic books throughout the years, it’s not yet known which story Sydney’s version will follow, but we imagine a plot will be unveiled when a writer joins.
Sydney launched Fifty-Fifty Films last year, her own production arm through which she’ll be playing a more significant role in the creation of many of her movies. Alongside Barbarella, she’s signed on to produce a movie adaptation of the new Madison Lawson book The Registration with Sony Pictures too. Sony bought the rights to the book before it was officially released last month, and the script for the murder-thriller movie is being written by the screenwriters of the 2020 horror, The Night House.
The Registration will be set in a society where people can legally kill one person in their lifetime, so long as they register the victim and accomplish the murder within 14 days. In the book, a woman called Lynell opts to use her kill to murder the man who abused her as a child. But her plans coincide with the revelation that someone has registered to kill her too. She has 14 days to figure out who that person is, why they’re doing it, and evade them. It’s not yet known if Sydney will also star in that project, but of course we’re hoping she does.
Barbarella doesn’t have a release date, wider plot or casting information, but we expect more details to trickle out in the months to come. Watch this space!