The XENA Series Reboot Was Happening, Then It Wasn't, But Now It Is...Is It?

If you watched television a lot and grew up in the 90's, there's a good chance that co-star of Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the upcoming STARZ series horror reboot, Ash VS. The Evil Dead, Kiwi actress Lucy Lawless came under your radar then. Playing the landmark television title role for the hit series, Xena: Warrior Princess, Lawless was integral in establishing a female presence in action entertainment as an original villainess/anti-hero in an epic story that culminated Greek mythology with a worldly scope of fantasy, action and spiritualism.

The series was created and developed by Renaissance Pictures executives Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi at the time, in the company of R. J. Stewart and John Schulian with Lawless appearing opposite actor Kevin Sorbo in his own series, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Eventually, Xena: Warrior Princess found its audience 1995 and became an Emmy award-winning hit on the small screen throughout its run until the Fall season of 2001.

As it stands, you can safely say there have been endless conversations among fans in favor of the series returning in some capacity, and even Lawless herself engaged a conversation with Den Of Geek (via Comic Book) recently about potentially crowdsourcing it. Personally, I've hoped for a feature film expansion as epic as Lord Of The Rings, although obviously that's not how things would pan out, although fast forward to fourteen years later where a few of the trades began reporting this week about the possibility of NBC bringing the Amazonian avenger back for a modern reboot geared toward today's audiences.

Of course, that was enough to stir the hype and fandom pot stew and get people enthralled with the possibility of seeing Lawless in a role that would nonetheless assure her a place on said new show provided that this news wasn't all bullshit. Alas, it was Lawless herself who tweeted her disbelief Monday evening about the rebooted series as a rumor, citing it as "wishful thinking", although an update from JoBlo assures that NBC and NBC Universal are, in fact, working out the kinks with Tapert and Raimi back to produce.

As confusing as this all feels on its face, it looks like this appears to be happening. As for any role Lawless herself may play in the show's rebooted revival, your guess is as good as mine at this point.

For now, let's just hope this update is one I can continue to build off of, lest this is all just more bunk impluring folks like me to go back and write another tedious article that will disappoint fans of the original show. I confess, as silly as it sounds, sometimes it does get emotional.

H/T: JoBlo

One-Shot Action Short, CHARGER, Needs Your Help!

Proof of concepts and standalone action shorts are always good and useful ways for aspiring actors and filmmakers to experiment on their craft whilst presenting something thrilling and entertaining for the viewing public. That stated, Chicago, Illinois-based actor and fight choreographer Zach Livingston is currently spearheading the campaign to complete his latest labor of love now in the form of Charger, a one-shot action short with a female-centric tone full of Hong Kong-geared action.

CHARGER is a 5 minute action film - a very short story of a rescue with a twist. A man breaks into a warehouse to save a woman being held by thugs and their boss, but the woman ends up turning the tables in an unexpected way. The film is essentially one long fight scene, filmed in a continuous tracking shot using steadicam. There is no dialogue. The choreography flows with the timing of the soundtrack. If you love fight scenes in films, and music videos, you’ll love this project. CHARGER also features empowered female characters who have a real impact on the film - that concept was the inspiration for the story.

Charger has since wrapped principle photography while promoting its on-going Seed And Spark campaign to help fund the necessities required for post-production and to help advance the release of the short much sooner than later. This would definitely help these independent fimmakers gain the industry exposure they need to help contribute to the genre we all enjoy partaking in (you know you do...yes, I read minds.).

The Seed And Spark campaign page for Charger has just over four days left to fund its project. Go there now and watch their campaign video with insightful footage and segments from the cast and crew to learn more about what they need, how you can help, and what you can earn back on top of a potentially awesome piece of film for free viewing online, and the festivals it could hopefully engage.