Since Grindhouse debuted Stateside, Robert Rodriguez has been talked about for, by our count, seventeen thousand and three other films to follow it up. But it seems that one film has emerged into the lead, leaving the others in the shade and in its dust. Yes, today's news is that Rodriguez is set to helm Barbarella, a remake of the cult '60s sci-fi starring Jane Fonda, as his next film.
The original, for those of you who have only seen the Kylie video homage, sees Barbarella (originally Jane Fonda), a 41st century astronaut, charged with stopping the evil Durand Durand, whose schemes threaten the galactic peace. Her quest leads her to the city of Lythion, where a new sin is invented every hour and Barbarella must brave lesbians, angels and orgasmatrons to bring her prey to justice. Yes, really. Along the way, her already minimal costume gets further shredded, and cinemagoers around the world held their breath to see how much tinier it could get.
Rodriguez is writing this remake with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, the scriptwriters of the last three Bond films, who have just finished work on Bond 22. Rodriguez is promising an R-rated adventure, with edge rather than camp, and has said that this is likely to be his next film. It's being produced by legendary director Dino De Laurentiis, who also produced the original film for director Roger Vadim way back in 1968. There's no word yet on whether there'll be a Fonda cameo (we highly doubt it) but we'd be less surprised if, say, Rose McGowan turns up in the lead. But whoever's naughty bits are covered by the artfully placed opening credits, it should be a stylish piece of space porn - sorry, opera.