Untitled Buffy theatrical reboot

The subject of this article is an undeveloped production. While planned to be an official project, it has been canceled in any stage of production.

A re-envisioning or relaunch of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer film was announced in May 2009. It involved Roy Lee and Doug Davison of Vertigo Entertainment and the original film's director Fran Rubel Kuzui and producer Kaz Kuzui.

The movie would not be a sequel or prequel to the existing movie or television franchise, and none of the characters from the television series would appear. The goal would be to "make a darker, event-sized movie" with "franchise potential." The story would follow a new Vampire Slayer who must step up to protect the new generation. Kuzui said that the new movie would hopefully take "Buffy into a new place."

Production

Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon was eventually offered a behind-the-scenes role in the new project, but he declined to participate in a reboot.

It was reported that Vanessa Hudgens was offered a role in the remake, but she turned it down because she felt it would not be the best option with The Twilight Saga's massive popularity at the time.

For 18 months after the announcement, no further news was heard on this project. Then on November 22, 2010, Warner Bros. signed with the Kuzuis to produce the new movie. Although 20th Century Fox released the first film and the TV series, the rights to the characters and situations of the first film were retained by the Kuzuis, who could bring the project to whichever movie studio they wanted.

Whit Anderson wrote a script for a planned Buffy reboot movie.

Whit Anderson, an actress with no professional writing credits at the time, was signed to write the new movie. Anderson praised the themes of the show, including the "deep struggle [Buffy] had with duty and destiny, that tug between what you're supposed to be doing and what you want to be doing." The producers also indicated that the new Buffy would not be in high school, and it was originally aimed for late 2011 or early 2012.

In December 2011, The Los Angeles Times reported that the Buffy reboot has been halted due to the producers' disappointment with Whit Anderson's script. A source declared: "[Anderson] came in with some great ideas and she had reinvented some of the lore and it was pretty cool, but, in the end, there just wasn't enough on the page." Anderson was taken off the project, which has been put on indefinite hiatus.

On July 20, 2018, Fox 21 Television Studios announced the project of a new Buffy reboot for television with Joss Whedon's approval.

Reaction

When the first new about the remake first came out, Alyson Hannigan demonstrated her distaste to it by saying, "That's a very big mistake in my opinion. I mean if Joss isn't involved, it's only the title." Asked about an involvement or her in the movie, she said: "Not without Joss. Joss is the only reason that we would go back. I mean, it's just ridiculous to think of that TV show without Joss. That's just silly to me… And all the fans know that, too, so I don't know what they're thinking."

David Boreanaz (on left) reacts to news of a Buffy remake.

In 2010, David Boreanaz reacted to the news of a Buffy reboot posing to a picture with a pouting face. Nearly a year later, with no further news about the reboot, Boreanaz replied about the project: "Trust me, I don't have any answers for you." When asked who he thought should play Angel, he answered: "Oh, whoever's [the] best fit for the role... I don't look to see who should play what or [who] should do anything."

When reached for comment in a 2010 intervew, Whedon responded with typical tongue in cheek: "This is a sad, sad reflection on our times, when people must feed off the carcasses of beloved stories from their youths — just because they can't think of an original idea of their own, like I did with my Avengers idea that I made up myself." More seriously, he added, "I don't love the idea of my creation in other hands, but I'm also well aware that many more hands than mine went into making that show what it was."

Kristy Swanson, the first actress to portray Buffy, said in 2010 that it would be "fantastic" to be a part of the film.

In 2011, Seth Green declared: "There's no public outcry for a remake of Buffy, there's only the opportunity in pop culture where vampires are very popular. If Joss came out and said, 'I want to make a new Buffy movie,' even if he said, 'I want to do it like the reboot of Spider-Man. I want to put Buffy back in high school and I want to tell a different story with this character,' I think people would go with that. But the fact that people who are not connected to it and were not connected to the show or any of the mythology that was created going back to the movie — which everyone kind of agreed wasn't a perfect version of its potential — you know, I think that really confuses people. It confuses the audience. They're like, 'How am I supposed to feel about this?'"

Sarah Michelle Gellar said in a 2011 interview: "To try to do a 'Buffy' without Joss Whedon, I mean that's, like, honestly, to be incredibly non-eloquent: that's the dumbest idea I've ever heard." She pointed that there's already a Buffy movie, and "they don't need to make another one."

Charisma Carpenter said in 2011 about the project: "Personally I think it stinks. It's just an opportunity to take something that was loved and cherished and lucrative and franchise it — and make more money from it. To not include the creator is insulting."

In 2011, Anthony Stewart Head called the reboot "a hideous idea." He said: "I think ultimately he had the idea when he was 19, took it around Hollywood and two people said, 'I'll make your movie.' They changed the original concept… I'm very glad they've done very well with it since, all power to them, but I don't think [you can take] someone's concept and say, 'Actually we're going to remake our concept of somebody else's concept.' It's nonsense."

When asked about the reboot in 2011, James Marsters replied: "The only way to make a good incarnation of Buffy is with Joss Whedon at the helm."