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EXCLUSIVE: Following the success of her most recent Sony pic Anyone But You, the studio isn’t wasting any time staying in the Sydney Sweeney business as sources tell Deadline Jane Goldman and Honey Ross are in negotiations to pen a new Barbarella pic starring Sweeney with Edgar Wright in talks to direct. The film is still in development given Sweeney’s busy schedule and Wright deep in prep on his The Running Man reboot with Glen Powell starring, so the project will not be next up for either of them.
Even so, Goldman and Ross being brought on to pen clearly shows the studio is not messing around in getting the film right as they see this as big franchise for all parties. Goldman has helped launch such successful franchises like the rebooted X-Men movies starring James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as well as Matthew Vaughn’s The Kingsmen: Secret Service.
Wright has been eyeing the project for some time, taking a meeting with Sweeney right after it was first announced but only committed to develop the project as something he would potentially direct. The studio and Wright have strong ties going back to his box-office hit Baby Driver, and the tone Sony and Sweeney are going for with this project fall in line with the fun and creative visual style the director is known for.
Not much is known about this version, but the 1968 pic directed by Roger Vadim follows an astronaut from the 41st century who sets out to find and stop the evil scientist Durand Durand, whose Positronic Ray threatens to bring evil back into the galaxy. The film wasn’t a massive box office hit but has since become a cult classic, and in 2020 the Forest estate announced plans for a new film.
This latest development with Barbarella comes after Sweeney and Glen Powell’s romcom Anyone But You overperformed in a big way at the box-office. The film brought in $210 million at worldwide box-office on a $30 million budget and
Goldman is repped by WME and Independent Talent Group, Ross is repped by WME and 42mp, Wright is repped by CAA and Sweeney is repped by Paradigm and Hansen, Jacobson and Teller.
