In a rare moment of getting it right, Dino De Laurentiis has hired Robert Rodriguez to direct the remake of the Jane Fonda fever dream of sexuality, Barbarella. Starting with the obvious caveat that no version of the French comic book that is made today can match Roger Vadim’s continental swinger movie from 1968, Rodriguez is the only guy who I can imagine that could capture any of the flavor. First of all, the guy has shown us that he’s able to bring us ample and glorious pulchritude without ever actually making it feel exploitative and creepy, and secondly his generally shabby filming aesthetic could translate into a nice approximation of a late 60s hip scifi movie. Unless he makes the whole fucking thing in front of a green screen, of course.
Reports Variety:
"I love this iconic character and all that she represents, and I’m truly excited by the challenge of inviting a new audience into her universe," Rodriguez said.
Dino De Laurentiis hinted at the flavor of the remake: "In our vision, the future is female, and I can’t wait to introduce ‘Barbarella’ to a new generation of moviegoers," he said.
The script is by Neil Purvis and Robert Wade, the guys who managed to not fuck up Casino Royale, even though they had fucked up the previous James Bond film. This is going to be Rodriguez’ next project (unless he squeezes a Sin City 2 in there), since it’s being aimed at a 2008 release by Universal. I guess this means we’ve been granted a reprieve from The Jetsons.