Last August, it was all but assured that “Grindhouse” babe Rose McGowan was set to star as the title character, an ultra-hot space vixen, in Robert Rodriguez’s remake of “Barbarella.”
Or so we thought.
Because soon came the budget disputes. And the posturing. And the claims that Universal didn’t want McGowan at all, preferring instead a bigger name actress like Jessica Alba or Nicole Kidman.
Turns out, we got it right the first time, McGowan insisted, telling MTV News that she was still very much signed on to play the lead in the upcoming film.
“[The news that I was out] was really irritating because I know all the people over there and obviously it wasn’t true. It was very malicious and there was no proof,” McGowan said of the rumors. “Oftentimes these things have basis in truth but this didn’t. I have contracts to prove it.”
Not just the contracts, either, but sets and costumes, and a whole “lot of pre-production work,” McGowan revealed, hinting that the flick is actually quite a bit further along than previously speculated.
“Half of the sets have been built. The costumes are done,” the actress confessed, adding with a laugh that she’s “even got my spaceships. I’ve got part of a spaceship built for me!”
At the moment, in fact, the only impediment to filming isn’t the actress in the lead – but all those other actresses everywhere else.
“[‘Barbarella’] wouldn’t be able to be finished before June which is when the next strike might happen,” McGowan said of delays in the face of a possible SAG strike. “It’s a longer shoot.”
The original movie followed Jane Fonda as she roamed the galaxy fighting evil and looking really, really sexy.
McGowan, for one, can’t wait to step into those knee-high boots, calling herself a big “fan of the original.”
Any pressure to live up to the legend?
“The original doesn’t have a lot to go on plot-wise. It’s one thing to do a remake of something that could have been much better storywise even if it was fantastic visually. It’s another thing to remake something flawless,” McGowan said. “That way if yours isn’t that good at least yours is better than that one.” [via]
Rose McGowan in striped thingy and red shoes out and about in Melrose Avenue 
