Sheena (film)

Sheena
A blonde woman riding on a zebra.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Guillermin
Screenplay byDavid Newman
Lorenzo Semple Jr.
Story byDavid Newman
Leslie Stevens
Based onSheena, Queen of the Jungle
by Will Eisner
Jerry Iger
Produced byPaul Aratow
Starring
CinematographyPasqualino De Santis
Edited byRay Lovejoy
Music byRichard Hartley
Production
companies
  • Columbia-Delphi Productions
  • Colgems Productions
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • 17 August 1984 (1984-08-17)
Running time
117 minutes
CountriesUnited States
United Kingdom
LanguagesEnglish
Swahili
Budget$25 million[1]
Box office$5,778,353

Sheena, also known as Sheena: Queen of the Jungle, is a 1984 superhero film[2] based on a comic-book character that first appeared in the late 1930s, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.[3]

A hybrid of action-adventure, superhero film and soap opera–style drama, Sheena was shot on location in Kenya. It tells the tale of a heroine raised in the fictional African country of Tigora by the fictional Zambouli tribe.

The film starred Tanya Roberts, Ted Wass, and Trevor Thomas. It was directed by John Guillermin and written by Lorenzo Semple Jr., who had previously collaborated on the 1976 remake of King Kong.

Released by Columbia Pictures on 17 August 1984, Sheena bombed in theaters and was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Actress (Tanya Roberts), Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Musical Score, but it did find some cult success on home video and DVD. Since then, it has been considered a cult film.

  1. ^ "Sheena (1984) – Financial Information". The Numbers.
  2. ^ Muir, John Kenneth (2008). The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and Television, 2d ed. McFarland & Company. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-7864-3755-9.
  3. ^ Wilson, Staci Layne (2007). Animal Movies Guide. Running Free Press. p. 17. ISBN 9780967518534.