Barbarella is just one of innumerable sci-fi classics that’s been up for rebooting, and like the potential resurrection of Wonder Woman, it’s been a long time coming for both genre heroines.
In fact, over a decade ago Drew Barrymoore was trying to do her own remake of Barbarella, then Robert Rodriquez was going to make it with his girlfriend Rose McGowan in the lead.
The original sixties Barbarella with Jane Fonda did finally come back last year on Blu-Ray, and now Barbarella is also in the works as a series. Nicolas Winding Refn, the director of Drive, is in charge of the series, and interesting enough he was also going to helm the big screen reboot of Logan’s Run with Ryan Gosling as Logan Five, but that particular remake has apparently stalled.
Now Giant Freakin Robot reports that two veteran James Bond writers are onboard to help bring Barbarella back, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. Purvis and Wade’s James Bond screenplays include The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day, and the Quantum of Solace. They also have co-writing credit on Casino Royale, and Bond’s recent triumphant return, Skyfall.
Alright, so great writers, good director, all systems go, right? Now the question is who’s going to play the famous queen of the galaxy, and does today’s generation care about Barbarella? If the character can be updated for modern audiences in a cool new way, Barbarella could indeed be pretty cool, especially if you do it in the style of Joss Whedon or JJ Abrams.
How Paramount described her for the Blu-Ray release makes the prospect of a Barbarella reboot very promising indeed: “Who can perform a zero-gravity striptease, seduce an angel and still have time to save the universe? Sexy, sultry, space adventurer Barbarella, that’s who!”
Plus one can imagine how incredibly hot a young ingénue actress could look in an updated version of her revealing space suit.
No word yet on what network will pick up the show or a potential air date, but as we previously reported on TG, Refn said, “I’m excited for the opportunity to re-invent Barbarella, and I look forward to bringing this unique character to life for a generation of fans as I believe she is one of the ultimate counter-cultural characters.”
