The reboot of the classic 1995 series Xena: Warrior Princess has just hired a former Lost writer.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Javier Grillo-Marxuach will write NBC's new Xena revival.
Grillo-Marxuach worked on Lost for the show's first season, penning the script for popular episodes like "House of the Rising Sun," "Orientation" and "Collision." After departing the ABC drama series, he served as executive producer on Medium. Most recently, he was co-executive producer on SyFy's Helix.
Xena: Warrior Princess will follow a modern version of the classic character played by Lucy Lawless. Despite the fact that similar reboots like Ash vs. Evil Dead have retained the lead actor and made their aging a part of the storyline, Xena will not be bringing back Lawless in any capacity. NBC is reportedly looking for a sophisticated new superhero with the smarts of Katniss Everdeen.
"We'd love to have Lucy be a part of it — if we felt that her presence didn't overshadow the direction we take with it," said NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt.
Back when news of the reboot first started popping up, Lawless didn't even seem to be aware it was happening, as we previously reported, so it doesn't appear that NBC was ever keen to have her involved.
The Xena reboot is co-created by Rob Tapert, creator of the original series and husband of Lucy Lawless. Sam Raimi will also return as executive producer.