'Barbarella' Remake Set to Star 'Euphoria' Actress
Sydney Sweeney's big push to make the transition from television to movie star will include a remake of the cult classic Jane Fonda movie Barbarella. The Euphoria star has signed on to star in and executive produce Sony's new movie, which has no writer or director attached. A day after Sweeney confirmed that project, she joined another, Universal Pictures' The Caretaker.
Sources told Deadline that Sony's Barbarella is still in early development and Sweeney is expected to be an executive producer. Although the original 1968 film was released by Paramount in the U.S., it appears that Sony Pictures now has the screen rights to the French comic book series created by the late Jean-Claude Forest. The author's estate announced plans to make a new movie in 2020.
The 1968 film starred Fonda in the title role, an astronaut who is asked to help stop the scientist Durand Durand (Milo O'Shea) from reintroducing evil into the galaxy. It was directed by the late Roger Vadim. Barbarella was produced by the late Dino De Laurentiis, who had the screen rights to the comic. Although the movie was not a big hit in the U.S., it has since become a cult classic. There have been multiple attempts to turn Barbarella into a franchise, either with remakes or a television series, but none of these plans have panned out. Hopefully, Sweeney's version makes it further and offers a unique take on the stories.
Meanwhile, Deadline is also reporting this week that Sweeney will star in and executive produce The Caretaker, a Universal project based on Marcus Kliewer's short story. Michael Bay and Brad Fuller will produce through Platinum Dunes with Scott Glassgold, Sweeney, and Sweeney's partner Jonathan Davino. Karl Gajdusek is adapting the story, which is about a young woman who accepts a dangerous caretaking job on Craigslist.
Sweeney has several other projects in the works. She is now filming Madame Web, a new movie set in Sony's Spider-Man universe, with Dakota Johnson as the title character. The movie is set to open on Feb. 16, 2024. Sweeney also recently joined Fuller for The Registration, which is based on a novel by Madison Lawson that was just published in September. Sweeney will also be seen in Tony Tost's National Anthem.
Although Sweeney has been working in Hollywood since 2009, her star skyrocketed thanks to the one-two punch of Euphoria and The White Lotus, which both aired on HBO. Both projects earned her Emmy nominations earlier this year. She launched her own production company, Fifty-Fifty Films, which is also developing the long-gestating The Players Table, an adaptation of Jessica Goodman's novel for HBO Max that will co-star singer Halsey.
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