Just when you thought Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn couldn’t be any more surprising, he’s gone and gotten himself attached to develop a TV series based on 1968’s space-'sploitation comedy sci-fi Barbarella.
Yup, after years lingering in development limbo waiting to be locked inside a new cinematic orgasmatron, the character made famous by Jane Fonda on screen (based, of course, on Jean-Claude Forest’s saucy comic books) is now getting a new life on a slightly smaller screen.
There’s no word yet on what form Barbarella will take or what story it will tell, but you’ve got to figure it’ll find the buxom astro-beauty getting into all manner of scrapes as she chases down bad guys.
Gaumont Television is behind the new move, with Martha De Laurentiis as a producer. According to Refn, Barbarella is “one of the ultimate counter-cultural characters, and I look forward to bringing this unique character to life for a new generation of fans.”
He’s on board to direct the pilot and work as an executive producer on the show, but he’ll be juggling that with his other projects, such as the Ryan Gosling-starring Logan’s Run remake.
Refn’s latest film, Only God Forgives, will be out at some point next year. For some exclusive on-set peeks, check out the latest issue of Empire in mag, iPad UKand iPad US format.