The latest adaptation of Robert E. Howard's Red Sonja character has been through all sorts of development issues, not the least of which was needing to shed controversy-riddled director Bryan Singer and churning through a few candidates to star. Cameras are finally rolling, though, with Matilda Lutz starring as the title role, while Wallis Day and Robert Sheehan also lead the cast.
MJ Bassett is directing this new movie, at work in the Bulgarian Nu Boyana Studio before a planned move to the company's sister studio in Greece for the rest of the shoot.
Joey Soloway (who was attached to direct at one point) and Tasha Huo wrote the script, which is largely under wraps save for the fact that it'll see Lutz as the sword-wielding warrior. Day will portray her wicked half-sister Annisia, with Sheehan as Draygan.
Also in the cast? Michael Bisping, Martyn Ford, Eliza Matengu, Manal El-Feitury and Katrina Durden.
"I’ve wanted to make a Red Sonja movie since I was a teenager – she has been a powerful presence for me and a character that I have always wanted to bring to the screen with my own voice and vision," says Bassett in a statement. "When I met Matilda Lutz, I knew she had all the magic I was looking for and could see the complexity and depth she would bring to Sonja."