The remake of Barbarella, Machete the movie and the Sin City sequel were only a few of the topics touched upon during the Red Sonja panel at the recent San Diego Comic Con. The hour-long event featured a lengthy Q&A with producer Robert Rodriguez, star Rose McGowan and director Douglas Aarniokoski.

To start off, Rodriguez unveiled some Red Sonja posters and concept art. The pieces featured McGowan in various stages of undress. The prints were mostly black and white with the exception of McGowan’s red hair, red lips and green eyes.

When discussing the source material, Rodriguez told a story about buying Robert E. Howard comic books when he would go to the grocery store with his mother when he was 11. In one of the comics, he saw an ad for a Red Sonja - “That’s been in my dreams and fantasies for all times!”

Rodriguez then recreated how he reacted when McGowan asked him if she should do a Red Sonja movie. This recreation consisted of Rodriguez spitting water out onto a nearby podium.

Rodriguez briefly touched upon the long-rumoured Barbarella remake and the timing of it in relation to Red Sonja. “We decided to do this in place of Barbarella which we did have funding for to do in Germany.”

McGowan described what drew her to the Red Sonja character by saying, “I’m really interested in female vengeance… It’s going to be cold, it’s going to be dirty, it’s going to be bloody. But I’m up for it!”

When asked if the film would be a sequel to the Brigette Nielsen’s 1985 Red Sonja, Aarniokoski said, “This is Red Sonja darker, more like the book. Not anything to do with the other movie.”

McGowan then added, “I will not have a mullet.”

Rodriguez touched upon the Sin City sequel saying, “[Frank Miller has] written a Sin City 2 script which is really great. We’re trying to figure out how we’re going to do it between our projects. But, that’s the gift that keeps on giving. It’s always there, ready to go.”

When asked about casting for Conan, Rodriguez said, “Danny Trejo! My phone’s going to be ringing any second!’ Rodriguez then broke into a dead-on Trejo impersonation saying, “Robert, when are we going to make Machete! Wherever I go people are asking, ‘Machete, Machete, Machete!’ Hurry up, homes!” Gordon Holmes

Red Sonja is currently in pre-production and is slated for a 2009 release.