There’s going to be a new Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie. Normally that sentence would send chills of excitement down my spine, except for one small detail. Joss Whedon is not involved.
Warner Brothers announced today that it’s moving forward on a plan to reboot the Buffy franchise with new a new film scheduled for 2012 or late 2011. The film however, is being written by Whit Anderson, a newcomer who is in no way associated with Joss Whedon.
One of the new film’s producers, Charles Roven, whose credits include everything from The Dark Knight to the live-action Scooby Doo movies, said “There is an active fan base eagerly awaiting this character’s return to the big screen.”
It’s clear to me, based on this sentence, that he doesn’t understand the fans he’s talking about. There are no fans of Buffy, there are only fans of Joss. Find me one person who liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer but not Joss, and I’ll show you a liar.
Could this new Buffy film be good? Perhaps. But that’s irrelevant. The simple truth is that remaking Buffy without Joss Whedon is like … you know what, I can’t even think of an appropriate comparison, that’s how absurd this idea is.
I’d rather see a new Sex and the City movie without Sarah Jessica Parker. I’d rather see Doctor Who without the TARDIS. I’d rather watch a James Bond movie where he orders a stirred martini.
I’m sure a lot of people will see this film, most of them tweens who are too young to remember the series and weren’t even born yet when Kristy Swanson first arrived on screen. However, I am a Whedon fan, and there’s no way I can endorse a Whedon-less Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
(Image courtesy of UPN)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
