There are rumours abounding regarding the casting of Barbarella, despite the fact that a new director has just been heard of and there's no script, it seems that the gossips and inside sources are claiming a new actress had been found and is now dropped again.

What's more is that they're claiming that Rose McGowan is back on board as the titular character.

I'm coming at this with my usual huge warning that this is filled with rumour and it's complete conjecture from some celebrity gossip sources and the usual insiders who “are close to the production” and are probably just making the tea. So that's out of the way and you are warned, here we go with the mad rumours.

Apparently Kate Beckinsale was to be playing the lead but has been dropped from Barbarella in order to make way for Rose McGowan, again.

What astounds me is how quickly Robert Luketic, who may be the new director, apparently chose the lead actress without a script and then changed her again.

Perhaps he was the one that swapped the lead back to Rose McGowan from Kate Beckinsale after, perhaps, the studio chose her for the lead.

However in reality we have no real idea what is, or has been, happening. That's because the story is built upon other people's desires for the role. Let's look behind the Comic Book Movie headline, find the source articles ourselves (since there are none given on the article) and dig beneath the latest Daily Express gossip and “insider” comments.

April 17th the Daily Express story said the following:

“Kate Beckinsale is being tipped to fill the high boots and skimpy outfits of kitsch Sixties heroine Barbarella...Industry insiders say that the English-born actress...is among the frontrunners for the role of the sexy space explorer, made famous by Jane Fonda in the original 1968 movie.”

Where's the source from this, apart from “industry insiders”, whoever they may be?

“...the feeling is that Kate has just the right combination of beauty, humour and acting talent for the part.”

That's the comment that comes from the Daily Express' “our man in Tinseltown”.

Bear in mind that back the announcement that the film was dead under Robert Rodriguez hadn't been made, neither was it learned that the studio was keeping the project alive, nor that it looked like Luketic would take the directorial seat.

Come the Daily Express story of the 5th of June, Kate Beckinsale is suddenly a certainty for the role but she's been dumped and Rose McGowan is back on. The source? It's “our man in Tinseltown” once again.

Worse than that it appears to pitch the previous story as almost fact:

“Kate Beckinsale is facing heartbreak after it emerged she is set to miss out on her dream role as sexy heroine Barbarella. The 35-year-old had been the front-runner to land the cult part”

So fact wise, there's nothing in there. It's all based on made up rumours and “insider” sources, and it sounds as weak as anything, especially since we've seen a director leave, the project die, be resurrected, waiting for a new script and word of a new director who may already be assigned.

It's still wide open and there's no real story here. So who would you want to see play Barbarella? Is there another choice from either of these two?