Edgar Wright Opens Up About Tackling Sydney Sweeney’s BARBARELLA Remake
The long developing Barbarella remake continues to hover in that fascinating Hollywood space where anticipation meets uncertainty, and director Edgar Wright is finally shedding a little light on how he’s thinking about the project.
With Sydney Sweeney attached to star and her career on a serious upswing, fans are understandably curious about how this new film might turn out.
Wright has been attached to Barbarella for more than three years now, ever since news broke that Sweeney would lead the film and that he was Sony’s choice to direct. While he hasn’t confirmed it as his next feature, he has shared some insight during a recent interview with Josh Horowitz:
"I think if that did happen, it would be more [of an adaptation of the source material]. I love the original, and I probably watched that at exactly the right age: too young.
“The script is by Terry Southern, though you can feel the Terry Southern-ess of it start to...there's a lot of that in there, and when it's really sharp, it's great. It's beautiful to look at, and it's fun and subversive."
He went on to highlight what draws him toward the French comic origins:
"The books themselves are just beautiful and really imaginative and progressive. I like the movies of that era. They're all Italian movies that have that pop art sensibility."
Wright also addressed the superhero conversation that tends to follow him after his early involvement with Marvel’s Ant-Man:
"After my experience [with Ant-Man], I was not interested in superhero movies generally, but that doesn't mean I'm not interested in a comic book movie. I'd love to do another comic book movie.
“One of the reasons Michael Bacall did [The Running Man] is because we'd been working on a different comic book adaptation that fell apart rights-wise. I don't want to say what it is, in case it comes back [Laughs]."
Sweeney’s Hollywood momentum is a major factor in this remake still having a pulse. Thanks to the success of many of her films, Sweeney remains one of the most marketable stars working today, although her recent film Christy has a rough go at the box office. Her upcoming thriller The Housemaid is expected to draw a sizable audience this winter.
Her attachment gives Barbarella a strong anchor, even as Wright’s The Running Man underperforms at the box office and makes it tougher for studios to greenlight bigger films for him. Right now, the project remains in limbo, but neither Wright nor Sweeney has walked away.
Created by French comic legend Jean-Claude Forest, Barbarella first arrived in 1962 as a serialized comic in V Magazine before being collected as a graphic novel.
The character is a 41st century space traveler who encounters bizarre planets, alien species, and surreal landscapes, all painted through a sensual and psychedelic lens.
International recognition skyrocketed with the 1968 film adaptation directed by Roger Vadim and starring Jane Fonda. While it wasn’t a major hit at the time, the movie has since evolved into a sci-fi cult classic celebrated for its campy charm, erotic energy, and wild visual style.
For now, the future of the new Barbarella hinges on schedules, studio confidence, and whether Wright chooses it as his next feature. What’s clear is that he sees something special in the source material, and Sweeney’s star power keeps the door open for the project to move forward.
If this pairing finally blasts off, it could deliver a stylish, imaginative new take on one of sci-fi’s most iconic cult characters.