Exciting news for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer : Warner Bros. has announced plans to reboot the much-adored franchise with a new movie, optioning the rights from creators Fran and Kaz Kuzui. (Fran Kuzui was the director of the original 1992 film, and the she and her husband Kaz co-executive produced the long-running Sarah Michelle Gellar series alongside fanboy/girl idol Joss Whedon, who scripted the film from which the series was based. Got that? Moving on…)
Coming Soon divulges the proposed reboot will be produced by Charles Roven (The Dark Knight) of Atlas Entertainment, along with Vertigo Entertainment producers Doug Davison and Roy Lee, who both served as executive producers on The Departed. While that’s a promising team, the announcement that unheard of screenwriter Whit Anderson will be penning the screenplay, and the fact that Joss Whedon is unattached to the project, leaves me, an admittedly adoring fan of the Buffy franchised, worried. As for specifics on the reboot’s plot – details are scarce and are likely to remain so.
“Whit approached us with an exciting idea about how to update Buffy,” said Roven. “There is an active fan base eagerly awaiting this character’s return to the big screen. We’re thrilled to team up with Doug and Roy on a re-imagining of Buffy and the world she inhabits. Details of the film are being kept under wraps, but I can say while this is not your high school Buffy, she’ll be just as witty, tough, and sexy as we all remember her to be.”
Roven, as a fan I warn you: she better be.
Hero Complex spoke with newbie screenwriter Anderson, who first states her love of the series, “I didn’t really watch much television at all, but I always watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that was the one show I would watch when I got home. I just loved this character. I was the same age as Buffy and it was so rare to have a female lead character on TV in those days who was strong and capable and smart but also allowed to be feminine.” She went on to say the best aspect of Buffy was, “The deep struggle she had with duty and destiny, that tug between what you’re supposed to be doing and what you want to be doing. The fate of the world is on her shoulders but some days she wakes up and she just doesn’t want to do it. And are we doomed and destined to love someone? That conflict was very interesting to me. Those are the things I loved about her and her world. She also represents — like all the heroes — something empowering for us. She’s reminds us of what we could be if we were in our top form, the best of us if we were at our very best, and even then we still see the vulnerability and doubts she has inside. That’s where we all connect.”
While the nerd girl at my core is nodding intensely at the above ramble, my skeptic coating still has reservations. Roven assuages, “Generally, I wouldn’t have said ‘Let’s revive this,’ but Whit’s take is pretty compelling and a lot of fun, and it’s interesting to see all of this re-imagined. This is a completely new reboot. Tone is extremely important and you want the audience to realize what is at stake and the peril is real, but at the same time what’s going on should be fun and inviting and keep everyone engaged. It needs to be relevant to today, too, and that is what Whit has found a way to do.”
Keeping in mind the man saying this helped produce on of the most successful reboots of all time, it’s hard to remain cynical, though the lack of Whedon leaves me with reservations. At present, I’m going to state I am cautiously optimistic about this anticipated reboot, and will be keeping an eye on out on casting news. BUT – if they hire Megan Fox – I’m out!
What do you think of Buffy 2.0? Would you like to see a new take on the beloved vampire slayer? Who should be the new Buffy?