May 26, 2009 | by Bruce Simmons 

‘Buffy’ Reboot Without Joss Whedon?

Buffy The Vampire Slayer movie

Roy Lee and Doug Davison of Vertigo Entertainment, and the original franchise rights holders, Kuzui Enterprises (Fran Rubel Kuzui and Kaz Kuzui), of the movie Buffy The Vampire Slayer are looking to remake the popular vampire slayer movie and at the moment, it looks like they’re looking to do it without Joss Whedon.

Joss Whedon wrote the screenplay for the 1992 movie and as we all know, was brought back to helm the highly popular TV series that ran from 1997 to 2003, and also led to the 1999 spin-off, Angel.

Despite the rich history of the Buffy TV franchise, there are no plans to use some of the more popular characters from the TV series like Angel, Willow or others.  They’re looking to take the franchise into a darker direction than the original and have a slayer that is destined to protect each generation of humanity.

Joss Whedon

At the moment though Whedon is not attached to this new project.

It may only be that he has not been contacted by Kuzui Enterprises yet and has not been ruled out.  At this point they are meeting with writers and hearing what they have for ideas on the new premise.

Our Take

For this premise to actually work, they need to be very careful how they approach this new idea of theirs.

I like the idea of it being darker but the idea of anyone else helming a Buffy project aside from Whedon might be breaking a holy seal of such.

They already have an installed fanbase, but it will be a fine line they’ll be walking if they use anyone besides Whedon.  Yet sometimes, change is warranted and can be successful.  It will be interesting to see what happens.  As details develop, we’ll keep you apprised.

How do you feel about this potential change to the Buffy The Vampire Slayer franchise reboot?  Who do you think might be a good writer to replace the irreverent Joss Whedon – or do you think this is just noise to generate media buzz, saying they aren’t looking at Whedon to guide the reboot?

Source:  Hollywood Reporter

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  • T
    Um, Whedon is as much a part of the Buffy "franchise" as the character herself. Without Joss I believe you'll find that "fanbase" mostly empty. If the effort was numerous years in the future with an issue of Joss no longer being around it would be one thing, doing this, which in my mind would be very akin to legal theft, is something completely different.
  • Gary
    Bad idea
    Whedon CREATED the character.
    They should at least contact him out of respect .
  • Lank
    Agreed, I can't imagine anyone who liked the series being interested in a Whedon-less reboot. Surely there would be literally no audience for this. I personally wouldn't even bother seeing it out of curiosity.
  • morgansehl
    I am so pissed! What jacka$$ takes someone else well-thought out world and changes it around to make it their own??? These people have the imagination of a pet rock. MAKE YOUR OWN DA#@ VAMPIRE WORLD! STOP STEALING OTHER PEOPLE'S IDEAS!
  • morgansehl
    No one likes a copy cat.
  • Huggybear
    Hollywood is dead.
  • Issa
    This is just a craptastic idea.
  • Matt Keith
    I would just rather see them continue the series(not in a feature length film though). The series was sooo much better than the movie in almost every way possible.
  • Jimmy
    lol looks like it's a unanimous decision and i have to agree, there's no chance in hell this'll work because a) he's the best writer out there, b) it's the same guys that brought the craptastic feature length movie in the first place, and c) nobody will see it just to protest that joss was given the shaft!
  • Jimmy
    oh and the idea about no Angel?? um, wasn't he the one character popular enough to deserve a spinoff??? BAD idea...
  • Nikki
    I've prayed and prayed for a Buffy movie... But I guess I should have been more specific, because Buffy without Joss is like being without a head or heart, it just doesn't work...

    Joss whedon wasn't just some guy who had something to do with the show, he made those characters, they are a part of him

    I for one will not be seeing the flick if my childhood hero is not involved.... my loyalty's not with the franchise but with the guy who made the franchise great.
  • Steve
    This is unnaceptable!

    I don't know how I'd feel about a full-blown Buffy movie even with all the actors, writers, producers etc from the series.

    The actors are older now, specially Boreanaz and Marsters to play vampires (who don't age), but even THINKING about a new movie WITHOUT Whedon is preposturous.

    I'm one of the biggest Buffy fans ever, but if this is ruined, I will take a sub-machine gun to everyone involved!!!

    (Minus the Buffy cast and Whedon of course...)
  • JJ
    If you look at Whedon's original script for the movie and compare it to what we actually got, it's hard not to be skeptical about the proposed new film's chances. Whedon's script was not only darker in tone than the Kuzuis' movie, it was a lot funnier, too. Let's remember that "Buffy" was a semi-big deal in 1991-2; a number of high profile actresses like Allyssa Milano and Alicia Silverstone were considered for the lead, Donald Sutherland and Rutger Hauer were brought on, and it was expected to make Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry big movie stars. (Ironically, Ben Affleck and Hillary Swank ,who played minor roles in the film, were far more successful in their careers than the actors who were "supposed" to break out from it.) This buzz can be attributed to Whedon's concept and an early edition of the script he wrote, before the Kuzuis made changes. The result was a big, fat flop. I am not interested in another Kuzui Buffy movie.
  • hamlet3k
    This is no surprise coming from Fran Rubel Kuzui and Kaz Kuzui. These two have the enemy of Mutant Enemy since day one. Fran Kuzui ruined the movie and she and her husband demanded "executive producer" credits for both the "Buffy" television show and "Angel", which -- for them -- meant nothing more than cashing criminally sized paychecks off the success of both shows. No visits to the sets. No interest in the content. Owning a portion of the rights as a result of producing, directing and effing up the movie gives them a legal (if not ethical) right to the material. It's no wonder that they'd come to spank the cash monkey after being without legitimate careers of their own since "Angel" went off the air. Apparently, the syndication cash ain't enough to keep them in their Bel-Air estate.

    If there's even an inkling of truth to this mess, I'm calling every Slayer-ette and Browncoat I know for a preemptive boycott.
  • John "Kahless" Taylor
    Bad idea. Whedon is the brains behind Buffy and without him, it would be like making Day the Earth Stood Still without Renie. What idiot would do that? Oh Wait.... :-)
  • Well, I won't go so far as to say this film idea is doomed from the start (a darker take on the Buffy concept is interesting), but I can't say I'm optimistic about this. Like Joshi, I just feel this is too soon. Even with Whedon involved, I just have bad vibes about this. The general mood I suspect they're going for is a blending of "The Dark Knight" and "Buffy." And these days, everyone is trying to find a way to steal a page from the Batman films.
  • Daniel F
    As a hardcore Buffy/Angel fan I will refuse to watch this. With out Wheadon. To be honest even with him I wouldn't watch it. The actors and characters are what made Buffy so great. WIth out people like Angel, Xander, Giles or Willow I see no point and with those characters and different actors I see no point. Honestly Anthony Head Defined Giles no one else can play that Role same goes for every one else. Buffy was my least favirote member of the Core cast and by Core I mean the people listed above. With out the others I simply don't care.
  • Sharpe
    I liked Buffy too but I can't help but think of how people whined about Star Trek being rebooted without it's own must-have actors.

    Any remake likely will suck, so I agree mostly, but "Sabrina" and "The Italian Job" are examples of movies as good as the original, maybe better.

    And I just don't understand all the Whedon Worship. The Lord of the Rings movies were made despite the fact that the characters' creator wasn't around (same for Star Trek btw) so Whedon is not required, just desired.
  • steven the git
    I'm not a Whedon nut either and have issues with some of his work (Dawn and Connor both annoyed the hell out of me) but like everyone else, I won't have any interest in a Buffy movie without him.

    I'm not desperate for a Buffy movie of any kind to be honest, but without the brain and heart of it, why bother?
    I'm also sure Whedon fans would have nothing to do with this amd they would be the main people to appeal to.
    Daft.
  • So it seems unanimous that the fan base will probably NOT flock to this project unless Whedon is pulled into the project.

    Sounds good to me!
  • JJ
    @Bill Blume: I appreciate being open to the concept of a different take on Buffy. Certainly Whedon is not perfect (just get his fans started on what they don't like about his work, then try to shut them up!) and other voices could be interesting. I simply have no faith that this is anything but a desperate cash grab on the Kuzuis' part; it is difficult to believe anything good can come from it.
  • jago
    I'd watch it... not in the theater though even with whedon and the original cast... would wait for the dvd but still i'd watch it. I did like the characters... most of them except for giles(he was just boring) and buffy(whenever she was all "the hills" with angel or that other military dude). Spike, willow, xander, the one gothic girl that was with spike and some others were the whole reason i watched buffy the series. Buffy as well but only around like the first season when she had more weight on her before she went all skinny like most women in the business. When buffy killed angel in that church that one time i was sooooo happy cause i thought it was going to be more serious after that and less soap opera stuff but i was sooo wrong. Ah well ill catch the flick on dvd whenever its out...
  • 790
    Where's Wesley Snipes when you need him,,,


    8-)
  • The Big Dentist
    Doing a three-stretch with the Blood Pack...
  • 790
    LOL, Big D,,,

    Its time for "Blade 4, Break Out"
    ^
    8-)
  • The Big Dentist
    Or even a Blade movie directed by Joss Whedon? Or would his "levity" be a bit too close to 3 for comfort? Just throwing that out there..!
  • morgansehl
    I agree with Steve the git...I could not stand Dawn or Connor!!! But the rest of the characters I loved.
  • This just makes me mad because I loved the original. That had 90's classic written all over it and now they will ruin and destroy this. Never watched the TV series and if I want a serious Vampire show, that's why I watch True Blood.
  • girl
    This cannot happen without whedon having FULL control. arm the internet nerds! lets bring this down like McSpaced.
  • krj2
    I could imagine a BtVS reboot with a new younger cast,and even possible without Joss Whedon. However the Kuzuis aren't the ones to do it. We've already seen their version - in the 1992 movie. The TV series was darker, and funnier than the original movie.

    Who ever the directors & Producers are - they should look at the successful reboots of Batman & Star Trek as a guide. In the case of both series - they keep the same basic classic mythology, and have slightly different versions of the classic characters that fans love.

    A Buffy movie would have to follow the same formula - which means the basic mythology of TV series, as well as the main characters from the TV series - other wise it's doomed to fail.
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