Katherine Fugate Talks To Box Office Mojo
The following is an excerpt from an interview Katherine Fugate did with Box Office Mojo on 16 April 2004
Will there be a Xena movie?
Fugate: I'm supposed to write the script. I've outlined it, but [the
deal is] not signed and sealed. It was assumed that Robert Tapert,
the creator and executive producer, who is married to Lucy [Lawless,
the actress who played Xena], was supposed to get the rights back
from Universal. Under that assumption, I was approved as the writer
with Lucy and Renee [O'Connor, the actress who played Xena's
sidekick, Gabrielle] signed to reprise their roles. But now there's
some big legal battle. Universal isn't sure who has the rights and
everyone has a different conclusion.
BOM: What's the plot?
Fugate: This is what I'll say about a cult movie. I'm friends with
Gillian Anderson [Scully on The X-Files, who went on to star in the
X-Files movie]. There are expectations on many levels of a TV-based
movie. You have original fans, those who saw it maybe a few times,
hardcore fans who don't want to see any exposition because they've
seen every episode maybe five times, and then you have people who
have never seen it and you have to try and tell them a whole new
story. There are so many angles. People have many desires; I was
listening to Gillian, and [X-Files] is still Chris Carter's show,
but some people wanted Mulder and Scully to be together and some
didn't and that's it. Once you make a decision, you're going to
alienate people and you're going to make others thrilled. It's the
same with Xena.
BOM: Are Xena and Gabrielle going to be lovers?
Fugate: [I]t was pretty clear that they were [lovers]. But the
series wasn't about a lesbian relationship as much as it was about a
heroine. I don't want to write a domestic drama. It's clear that
they're lovers but that's not going to be the focus.