Red Sonja (2025 film)

Red Sonja
Release poster
Directed byM. J. Bassett
Written byTasha Huo[1]
Based on
Characters
by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyLorenzo Senatore
Edited byAndrew MacRitchie
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed bySamuel Goldwyn Films
Release dates
  • July 31, 2025 (2025-07-31) (Russia)
  • August 13, 2025 (2025-08-13) (U.S.)
Running time
110 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$231,437[3]

Red Sonja is a 2025 American sword and sorcery film directed by M. J. Bassett and written by Tasha Huo, based on the character by Robert E. Howard as adapted by Roy Thomas.[1][4][5] The film stars Matilda Lutz as Red Sonja, alongside Wallis Day, Robert Sheehan, Michael Bisping, Martyn Ford, Eliza Matengu, Rhona Mitra, and Veronica Ferres. The film follows the adventures of the nomad barbarian Sonja, who unites a group of unlikely warriors to face off against Dragan and his deadly consort Annisia.[6]

Red Sonja premiered in Russia on July 31, 2025, and received a limited theatrical release in the United States on August 13 by Samuel Goldwyn Films.[7] The film received generally mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

As a child, Sonja's homeland of Hyrkania is invaded by barbarians, slaughtering most of her people and forcing her to flee into the wide, mysterious woods nearby. Separated from the remnants of her tribe, she grows to adulthood and searches for other Hyrkanians while worshipping the forest goddess Ashera.

When mercenaries enter the forest and butcher animals for their horns, she tracks the men and discovers they are collecting exotic creatures for gladiator games honoring Emperor Dragan. When Dragan visits the camp to inspect the animals, Sonja uses the distraction to attack the hunters as punishment for their cruelty. She is discovered by Dragan's men and knocked unconscious by Karlak, Dragan's general. Dragan orders that Sonja be taken to the capital to fight in the games.

Dragan is in possession of half of a Hyrkanian book which has given him ancient scientific knowledge, allowing him to power the capital with arcane energy. He reveals that he is searching for the second half of the book to learn the remaining secrets and spread the reach of his power across the world. He hopes that Sonja's map of the uncharted forest will lead him to the exiled Hyrkanian refugees who possess the missing text.

Sonja joins the slaves who will fight in the gladiator pit, and they face off against a giant cyclops, whose emotions are controlled by one of Dragan's mystical devices. Sonja climbs to monster's body to rip off the device and communicates that Dragan is its real enemy. The cyclops attacks the spectator area, injuring Dragan. Before fleeing the capital, Sonja destroys Dragan's energy device.

Sonja and the slave fighters escape to the mountains, pursued by Dragan's soldiers and his lover Annisia, a deadly warrior who suffers from schizophrenia. Dragan promises Annisia that he will marry her if she succeeds in bringing him Sonja's head. Sonja attempts to separate herself from her new allies so that Dragan will target her alone, but the fighters insist on staying with her. They decide to attack the town that supplies Dragan with his creatures to draw him out. As they prepare, Sonja is found by the missing Hyrkanians, who reveal that they possess the second half of the holy book Dragan seeks.

When Dragan arrives with his forces, a battle begins. Dragan's army defeats the Hyrkanians and he gains the second half of the book. Sonja and Annisia face off in combat, and Sonja is mortally wounded. She is saved from a killing blow by her horse, who knocks Annisia away and brings Sonja to the statue of Ashera in the heart of the forest. In a state of near-death delirium, Sonja sees Ashera speak to her in the guise of her dead mother. Ashera heals Sonja's wounds and sends her back to battle with the mission to bring justice to the evildoers.

Sonja returns to her allies who thought her dead, and they attack Dragan once more. Dragan confronts Annisia, who had told him that Sonja was killed, and Annisia learns that Dragan created her schizophrenic condition by giving her fake medicinal potions. In a lover's quarrel, they stab each other and Dragan flees into the wilderness.

Sonja tracks Dragan and confronts him as he takes his dying breaths. He decrees that the second half of the book is worthless since it focuses on healing and nature instead of the power and energy knowledge in the first half. Sonja reveals that she knows he was also a child refugee of Hyrkania, and she feels responsible for his dark turn in life because she lost her connection to him after the disaster. Dragain dies holding her hand and the ripped pages of the book are lost in the wilderness.

Sonja leaves the forest to explore the world. In an epilogue set years later, one of her fighter allies finds her in a tavern and tells her that her help is needed. She gathers her weapons and leaves for a new adventure.

Cast

Production

Following the 1985 film starring Brigitte Nielsen, a second Red Sonja film was in development for several years. In 2008, Robert Rodriguez and his production company Troublemaker Studios were working on a version that would have starred Rose McGowan as the titular character.[12] By 2009, however, the Rodriguez project had been scrapped, and in February 2010, rights holders Nu Image announced they were moving forward with another projected new film to be directed by Simon West. Producer Avi Lerner said he would like to see Amber Heard take the role of Sonja, after having worked with her on Drive Angry. Lerner said the film would shoot before the sequel to Conan the Barbarian.[13]

In August 2012, at the premiere of The Expendables 2, West said that the film was still a go and would be out soon.[14] On February 26, 2015, Christopher Cosmos was set to write the screenplay from scratch.[15] According to Deadline, Millennium Films would finance and produce a new Red Sonja movie with Lerner and Joe Gatta producing alongside Cinelou Films' Mark Canton and Courtney Solomon and writing by Ashley Miller.[16][17]

In October 2018, Bryan Singer was confirmed to direct the film.[18] After multiple men accused Singer of sexual assault in January 2019, Lerner released a statement in defense of Singer, praising his "remarkable vision and acumen" and saying that he knew "the difference between agenda driven [sic] fake news and reality".[19] The following month, Millennium Films announced Red Sonja was no longer on their slate of films due to the allegations against Singer.[20] In March 2019, Lerner dropped Singer from the project because he was unable to secure a domestic distributor.[21] In June 2019, Joey Soloway signed on to write, direct and produce the film.[22]

In February 2021, Tasha Huo was hired to write the script with Soloway, and casting was set to begin.[23] By May, Hannah John-Kamen was cast in the titular role.[24] In March 2022, John-Kamen and Soloway left, with M. J. Bassett replacing Soloway as director and rewrote Huo's screenplay.[25][26] That August, Millennium confirmed that the film had begun production in Sofia, Bulgaria, with Matilda Lutz playing the title role.[5][9][27] In September 2022, Oliver Trevena was set to appear as Tr'aal.[28]

In October 2022, Rhona Mitra was cast in an undisclosed role, while Trevena exited the film due to scheduling conflicts.[4] In November 2022, Veronica Ferres was cast as Ashera and the mother of Red Sonja.[29] On 12 November 2022, it was reported that filming had been underway for two weeks at studios in the Thermi suburb of Thessaloniki, Greece, with post-production to be completed there as well.[30] By February 2023, Kate Nichols, Katrina Durden, Manal El-Feitury and Danica Davis were cast in undisclosed roles, while Alison McCosh and Clint Wallace were revealed to be the costume designer and production designer, respectively.[31] The film completed post-production by October 2023.[32]

Luke Lieberman serves as a producer with Red Sonja LLC, while Nick Barrucci serves as an executive producer for Dynamite Entertainment.[5]

Lutz said she prepared for the role by reading Red Sonja comics sent to her by producer Luke Lieberman and intentionally avoided watching the 1985 film. From the comics, Lutz said she found the primary essence of the character is that "she's a warrior, but she's also a survivor. I wanted to give her humanity and vulnerability."[33]

Lutz began intense sword training in Bulgaria one month before shooting due to director Basset's preference to shoot fight scenes in long, extended takes.[33]

Adaptation

Red Sonja drew on a variety of details from the comic book source material. From the 1973 Marvel Comics origin story by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith, the connection to a supernatural deity is maintained, but Sonja's motivation based on rape and revenge is removed. Visual aspects of Sonja's armored appearance and face paint, as well as the character of Dark Annisia, are based on the 2013 "Queen of Plagues" storyline by writer Gail Simone and artist Walter Geovani, published by Dynamite Comics.[34] Emperor Dragan the Magnificent first appeared in Dynamite's 2019 "The Queen's Gambit" story by writer Mark Russell and artist Bob Q.[35]

Prior to the film's release, Lutz said the film would differ in tone from the "male gaze" of the comics, and present "a completely different story". However, the character's trademark bikini would remain the main costume for the film.[36] On September 10, 2024, a set photo featuring a partially armored Sonja was posted to the Red Sonja Instagram account,[37] followed by a clip showing the bikini.[38] In the film, Red Sonja's chainmail bikini "is used as an element of power that the emperor has over her ... But then she owns it," said Lutz.[39]

Release

By February 17, 2025, Signature Entertainment picked up Red Sonja's UK and Irish distribution rights and set a theatrical release of late 2025.[40] On March 26, 2025, Samuel Goldwyn Films picked up the U.S. distribution rights to the film.[41] The film was released theatrically in the United States for one day only on August 13, 2025,[42] which will be followed by release on video on demand on August 29, by Samuel Goldwyn Films.[6]

Marketing

A teaser trailer debuted at the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the character.[43][44] The trailer and poster were released in early July 2025.[6]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 54% of 52 critics' reviews are positive.[45] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 41 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[46]

The Guardian gave the film two stars out of five, criticizing its "clunky script" and summarizing it as a "soggy, CGI-infused, low-budget confection".[47] The Wrap said the movie "improves on the 1985 film, but its low budget holds it back".[48] AIPT praised Lutz's performance in the lead role, citing her "confidence... vulnerability and humor".[49] Collider gave the film a mixed review, saying Lutz "evolves well into the role as the film proceeds, building a solid and empowered character" but criticized the production design and combat choreography.[50] The Hollywood Reporter posted a negative review, saying the film is "hampered by ... low-budget production values" and the story was "a deadly blend of cheesy and dull".[51] Esquire listed Red Sonja as one of the best action movies of 2025 but gave the film a mixed review, saying it "should have been a TV pilot", but Lutz "looks great taking big swings".[52]

References

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