http://io9.com/nbcs-xena-reboot-picks-up-steam-by-hiring-javier-grillo-1747961761 I wasn't sure that the Xena reboot really was in development, but this definitely confirms it. Don't let us down, Javier.
Given that Grillo-Marxuach created The Middleman, he'd be a great choice to capture the campy humor and wit of Xena. I wonder if Hercules or Iolaus will exist in the reboot Xenaverse.
Hopefully a reboot doesn't forget that Xena had its serious stories and dark moments, too. I love a lot of the funnier parts of Xena, but I wouldn't want to see it become a sitcom or something.
Nothing on Rob or Lucy's twitter feed so far. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/nbcs-xena-reboot-finds-writer-848493
I've loved a lot of stuff Grillo-Maxauch has worked on, so that really does a lot to raise my confidence level. I found a twitter feed that appears to be his, and it does have Xena all over it, so it looks like this is legit.
I think it’s a pretty solid script that captures the essence of the characters and the setting fairly well. It could've been interesting. Spoiler: Spoilery thoughts It compresses a lot, like having Gabrielle get fight training and tattoos right in the first episode, while still having her basically true to her character as a pacifist wannabe bard. Xena is darker here, but her reform is better justified than it was in her original Hercules guest appearances, and presumably her relationship with Gabrielle would’ve further redeemed her over time. Revising Hercules into her enemy and making Gabrielle, rather than Herc, the one who redeems her makes sense in a standalone reboot, streamlining things and tightening the focus on the X/G pair. It’s also truer to the mythical Hercules, who was quite the misogynist. The very first Sorbo Herc movie, Hercules and the Amazon Women, started Herc out as a typical Ancient Greek sexist pig but had him get woke through his experiences with the Amazons (including Lucy Lawless in the first of her two pre-Xena roles in the franchise) and he was a modern sensitive guy for the rest of the series. This is basically stripping away that revisionism, replacing Sorbo’s superhero with someone closer to the myths. Gabrielle being a Scythian who becomes an adoptive “princess” is an interesting choice, since the Scythians are one of the suspected bases for the mythical Amazons, and the original show had Gabrielle become an adoptive Amazon princess. That’s another way this version tries to be closer to the original myths and history. My main issue is that it’s too much in the modern serialized form, so a single episode can’t really tell a complete story. Since the one script is all we get, that leaves it unfinished, which is a bit frustrating. I miss the way TV writing was done around the time of the original series, where you had serialized story threads and character growth over time, but each individual episode was still a complete piece with a proper ending, aside from the occasional 2-parter. It’s also unclear how far it would’ve gone into the fantasy element with gods and monsters. There’s a mention of the Hydra as something Herc & Iolaus have actually fought, but we don’t see anything supernatural onscreen; even the “giant” at the beginning is just a 7-foot-tall person. The gods are talked about but unseen, and even Hercules’s divine parentage is called a claim rather than a proven fact.
Are they still going to talk like modern day people but in a fantasy based past? To me that was a underrated key ingrident to older shows, success. At no point should this show try and be historically accurate. If they want Xena to fight Bigfoot or Blackbeard at no point should they use the bad logic get in the way of doing it or stuff like that. Jason
You can read the script for yourself to find out. They certainly weren't speaking in some faux-Shakespearean idiom or something, but they weren't being self-consciously hip or slangy either. And JG-M's script was definitely trying to be more grounded and connected to the original history and myth, with Scythians rather than Amazons, a more mythologically accurate Hercules and Iolaus, and no onscreen supernatural elements. If you ask me, no copy can ever be as good as the original, so it's misguided to try to recreate the original exactly. Generally, a worthwhile remake or adaptation is one that complements the original -- one that's strong where the original was weak, one that restrains its excesses and exceeds its restraints. Something that does what the original didn't or couldn't do, rather than just trying to copy what the original already did. The more slavish and derivative a remake is, the more likely it is to fail, because it offers nothing of its own beyond nostalgia. The important thing to preserve in a remake is the core character and thematic elements that made the original work, and this version captured the personalities of Xena and Gabrielle, and the beginnings of their relationship, pretty well, while putting them in a more grounded world. We also know that it would've been open about them falling in love rather than having to skirt the issue. So -- restraining the original's excesses and exceeding its restraints.
I am curious about what outfit they will have Xena, wear. Her outfit is pretty much iconic but would they find it to silly looking in 2018? I assume the Chakrum will be much the same and her battle cry might also be the same but I have a hard time seeing her going around in a leather skirt. Jason
Again, you can just read the script for yourself. It's a free PDF download. The chakram is there, the battle cry is mentioned, and when she has new armor made at the end, it's described as closely resembling her classic armor, at least from the waist up. Even the cleavage dagger is there. And why wouldn't she wear a leather skirt? In antiquity, trousers were only worn by horse-nomad peoples, which wouldn't have included the Greeks. Although it would've included the Scythians, which is Gabrielle's people in the remake script, and Xena's armor is made by Gabrielle's father. So maybe she would've worn trousers, for all we know.
The remake is not happening? Bummer. Maybe it becomes movie material some day. Hope the Buffy remake isn’t dead, either.
Damn, Javier really does not like Hercules or Iolaus. As for the script itself, it's way too dark. Where's the fun? The big appeal of Xena back in the day is that it was a campy, adventure show with a fantastic cast. It could be extremely dark at times, but most of the time it left a smile on your face at the end of the episode. That's the Xena I want back.