Trivia / Sheena

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $25 million. Box office, $5,778,353.
• Creator Backlash: Only one year after the release, Tanya Roberts already criticized the movie in a interview: "The script I read in California was good but the script I read in Kenya wasn't."
• Creator Killer: Writer Lorenzo Semple Jr.'s career began to wind down after this movie, as did director John Guillermin (they only worked on one more movie).
• Dyeing for Your Art: Tanya Roberts took the part seriously enough to take up bodybuilding, dye her hair blonde and to practice riding bareback while leveling up a cross-bar.
• Portrayed by Different Species: Sheena rides a "zebra" that is played by a horse with stripes painted on it.
• Saved from Development Hell: Producer Paul Aratow landed a development deal with Universal Pictures as early as 1975 as a proposed starring vehicle for Raquel Welch. However, numerous script rewrites led to the project being put into turnaround. The project was picked up by United Artists, then after a failed script put in turnaround to Filmways (later Orion Pictures) where another failed script led to another turnaround deal at Avco-Embassy, who courteously released the project before their contract had expired to Columbia pictures. The first screenwriter at Columbia Pictures (in 1980) was Leslie Stevens. At Columbia the script was subsequently completely rewritten by David Newman and later tweaked by Lorenzo Semple Jr. The production was green-lighted in 1982.
• What Could Have Been: Jodie Foster turned down the lead role as she was busy studying at Yale University. At some point Bo Derek was considered for the title role, and Harrison Ford was offered the male lead.

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