Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (Casino Royale) have been hired to write the remake of Barbarella for producers Dino and Martha De Laurentiis.

Variety notes De Laurentiis recently completed a film rights acquisition deal with Julien Forest, the son of Jean-Claude Forest, author of the French comicbook series on which the film was based. Deal, made with Hollywood Comics principal Jean-Marc Lofficier and French agent Laurie Roy, calls for the reissue of the first two Barbarella books in concert with the feature, along with the publication of material that previously hadn't been translated into English.

In the original Barbarella, Jane Fonda played the title character as a kittenish sexpot. That movie comes off as camp and dated by today's standards. In the remake, the scribes will make Barbarella a free, modern gal who survives in a futuristic world through her intelligence, fighting skills and sexuality.