Edgar Wright Is Still Jaded About Comic Book Movies After ‘Ant-Man’, Despite Interest In ‘Barbarella’ Remake With Sydney Sweeney
The Running Man director Edgar Wright doesn’t know when it will happen, but the modern auteur is still circling Barbarella as a future project, even with his experience on Ant-Man, which he ultimately didn’t direct, fresh in his mind.
He tells Josh Horowitz of Happy Sad Confused how his adaptation of the French magazine strip could be different from other superhero movies. “I think if that did happen, it would be more [of an adaptation of the source material],” Wright said (via ComicBookMovie).
He would add, “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.” What makes Barbarella so tantalizing in that regard is “The books themselves are just beautiful and really imaginative and progressive.”
In 1968, those books were turned into a feature film, directed by Roger Vadim and starring Jane Fonda, that became a cult classic. Naturally, Wright is a fan. “I like the movies of that era. They’re all Italian movies that have that pop art sensibility,” he said. “I love the original, and I probably watched that at exactly the right age: too young.”
“The script is by Terry Southern [co-writer of Dr. Strangelove and Easy Rider], 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,” Wright added.
Wright also mentioned the far superior Danger: Diabolik, which was based on a series of Italian fumetti digest comics about an anarchist vigilante. That property experienced a revival in its country of origin in the past few years, which could indicate an awakened appetite for it and Barbarella‘s genre.
However, Wright’s use of the words “progressive” and “subversive” signals he might throw away millions of dollars again just to pander to the mythic modern audience and amuse himself. It worked out so well for The Running Man, after all.
There is also a lingering question mark hovering over Sydney Sweeney’s actual box office attractiveness. The Housemaid could provide a turn in her fortunes, but so far, everything she has been in this year has sunk without a trace.
