"Skyfall" co-writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (they share this Bond credit with John Logan) are tapped to write Nicolas Winding Refn's TV series, "Barbarella." Pervis and Wade also penned Bond's "The World Is Not Enough," "Casino Royale," "Quantum of Solace" and "Die Another Day."
Nicolas Winding Refn will bring "Barbarella" to the small screen. That's an exciting combination of the "Drive," "Bronson" and "Only God Forgives" director and the comic-book character (created by Frenchman Jean-Claude Forest in 1962) that spawned Jane Fonda's 1968 film (watch the sexy as hell--and rather ridiculous--opening credit sequence at Art of the Title). Refn will helm the project for Gaumont International Television, the Los Angeles based arm of the French studio. Refn states, "I'm excited for the opportunity to re-invent 'Barbarella' with my friends at Gaumont and Martha DeLaurentiis," and adds he's looking forward to bringing the character to a new generation of fans, "I believe she is one of the ultimate counter-cultural characters."
Which actress could possible fill the shoes --nay, spacesuit--of Fonda as the sexually liberated planet-hopping Barbarella?
DeLaurentiis and Gaumont is also behind the upcoming TV series "Hannibal," which will star Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelson for NBC.