10. Red Sonja
Post The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones audiences and producers are starting to take sword and sorcery stories a lot more seriously. Whether that's a good thing in terms of the likelihood of a new movie featuring cartoonish fantasy icon Red Sonja, the "She-Devil with a Sword" and the archetype for the chain-mail bikini-wearing warrior woman, is another matter. Spun off from Marvel Comics' version of Conan the Barbarian rather than Robert E. Howard's, Sonja's previous screen incarnation from 1985 was described by co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger as: "the worst film I have ever made." Which is really saying something, considering this is the same actor who made both Jingle All the Way and Batman & Robin... but it at least means a new version won't have much to compete with.
How likely is it? "Mexploitation" director and one man film crew Robert Rodriguez tried to get a film of Red Sonja off the ground for a 2010 release. Rodriguez eventually let the film drop off his slate in order to focus on Grindhouse spin-off Machete and monster sequel Predators. In 2011, Con Air director Simon West became attached as Red Sonja's director, but it's all gone quiet since. In the meantime, Sonja's hyborian comrade Conan got a movie reboot featuring Game of Thrones' Jason Momoa. Only managing to earn half its budget back, the new Conan the Barbarian flopped so badly that the next episode is likely to ignore it completely. Conan's failure means that studios are likely to be much less keen to back a new Red Sonja in the near future, so audiences may have to wait for this one.
Who should star? Rodriguez was so close to starting his version with then-squeeze Rose McGowan that
concept art of McGowan in the chain-mail bikini was released. A combination of her lack of star power and injuries that damaged her ability to lift a sword means we're unlikely to see McGowan in any new version, although she did get to appear as a witch in Conan. For many fans, McGowan's Conan co-star Rachel Nichols, who also played a red-headed ass-kicker in G.I. Joe, is their Sonja of choice. However, when West was actively looking to progress with his version, it was his Drive Angry star Amber Heard who found herself strongly linked with the role.
