The good news: Warner Bros. has said yes to a new Buffy The Vampire Slayer film.
The bad news: according to an article in the LA Times, the film is "moving forward without [Joss] Whedon."
Instead, the film is going with the relatively unknown Whit Anderson, who according to her resume at Internet Movie Database, has only a handful of credits to her record - as an actress. There's not a single writing credit to her name on IMDB. Not exactly confidence-inspiring.
Yet, according to another article at EW.com, Anderson is working with the support of Warner Bros. and producer Charles Roven, who also worked on the most recent Batman film, The Dark Knight. According to the EW article, their film - planned for a 2011 or 2012 arrival - "will not revisit the vampire slayer's high school days," perhaps wise to the fact that it will be hard to trump Whedon's TV version of Buffy in the eyes of devoted fans and TV buffs alike.
Details are still sparse, so it's hard to put together much of a picture at this date, but I can't blame fans for being skeptical. I'm a fan of the TV series myself, so like them, I appreciate how much Joss Whedon put into moving Buffy from a sometimes-lampooned Kristy Swanson movie into a television series that will now be a part of television history forever. I can't blame them for wanting him involved, even if he is working on The Avengers. Furthermore, I'm immensely skeptical of a writer who has apparently not written anything of note before (or even acted in much of note before, if IMDB is to be believed). I'm all for new blood, but I just can't help but feel with a project this important to a huge fanbase, they might have chosen someone more experienced.
UPDATE: E!'s Kristin Dos Santos scooped Whedon's reaction to the news, and it's quite frankly classic. In its entirety, from The Hollywood Reporter:
"Kristin, I'm glad you asked for my thoughts on the announcement of Buffy the cinema film. 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.
"Obviously I have strong, mixed emotions about something like this. My first reaction upon hearing who was writing it was, "Whit Stillman AND Wes Anderson? This is gonna be the most sardonically adorable movie EVER." Apparently I was misinformed. Then I thought, "I'll make a mint! This is worth more than all my Toy Story residuals combined!" Apparently I am seldom informed of anything. And possibly a little slow. But seriously, are vampires even popular any more?
"I always hoped that Buffy would live on even after my death. But, you know, AFTER. 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. And there is no legal grounds for doing anything other than sighing audibly. I can't wish people who are passionate about my little myth ill. I can, however, take this time to announce that I'm making a Batman movie. Because there's a franchise that truly needs updating. So look for The Dark Knight Rises Way Earlier Than That Other One And Also More Cheaply And In Toronto, rebooting into a theater near you.
"Leave me to my pain! Sincerely, Joss Whedon."
What do you think? Are you excited at the prospect of big-screen Buffy?
Brittany Frederick
DigitalAirwaves.net
This is disaster.
ReplyDeleteIf you're against this... please help get #NOBUFFYWITHOUTJOSS on Twitter XD
ReplyDeletethe hellmouth is goin to open again and its going to swallow the wb executives that said yes to buffy without joss!!!!!!!!!!!!! ... just sayin'
ReplyDeleteNo thank you! Ugh, this is going to suck! DNW at all.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this is going to go well.
Overjoyed to hear about a movie, dismayed by the loss of Whedon. This moving is going to be terrible. An unknown actress writing a script for a movie that has no Whedon? This is going to be the kind of fail that everyone will remember.
ReplyDeleteNow comes the important question. Will it have the original cast? If you're missing even one of the scoobies, or if you've replaced someone with a different actress, then the movie will be an assured failure. Sarah Michelle Gellar hasn't done anything noteworthy in years, Alyson is still working on How I Met Your Mother and she's a mom now, Nicholas Brendon is mostly doing guest spots etc. I don't see how they're going to make a movie and not ruin it.
This just can't end well D: Buffy without Joss Whedon isn't Buffy. The end.
ReplyDeleteI would be surprised, honestly, if they approach any of the TV series cast to do the movie. As cool as that would be? It seems like they want the film to be an entirely separate thing from the show.
ReplyDeleteThat's going to earn them a lot of hate. Buffy fans are extremely dedicated to the show and Joss Whedon. Also, if they completely ignore the comic books that will put them on bad terms with Whedon and it would be entirely too easy for him to just ask his fans not to support the movie. They'll listen to him and turn the movie into the biggest flop in history.
ReplyDeleteThis is one disaster of an idea. Without Whedon's involvement, fans will actively WANT to hate this film before they see even one second of it. Even if they don't, the fans will barrage the film with comparisons to the TV show and that's an impossible situation because, to a Buffy fan, the show is sacred and nothing anyone will produce will equal it.
ReplyDeleteThis entire project is set up for failure.
This is like writing a Soprano's movie without David Chase or doing an X Files without Mulder and Scully. It's simply NOT GOING TO WORK. It will suck, big time.
ReplyDeleteIt's a tough move, but at the same time, I can see why they did it. My guess would be that they're hoping "franchise" like with all the superhero movies coming out these days, and they want the film(s) to stand completely independent of the TV show - which means casting new faces that can be 'their' characters.
ReplyDeletePlus, like you said, I don't know that even if they wanted to, they could lock the original cast into the kind of long-term "franchise" commitment they're probably looking for.
You hit the nail on the head. There's no way that this is going to come close to the TV series in the eyes of the fans, which is impossible even if it happens to be a good movie. And putting that aside, this just doesn't sound like it's going to be a good movie, at least with what little we know now.
ReplyDeleteJosh doesnt want to do it?
ReplyDelete*nods*
ReplyDeleteIa ma HUGE Buffy fan and I am skeptical of this being pulled off well, but.... I think it is possible. First off, the TV series was nothing like the original Buffy movie that many considered an underground surprie if not hit... and the BTVS series grew its own fanbase and made its own mark on the age old vampire mythology. Before BTVS Joss was a mostly unknown writer. Who's to say that a new shwrunner/movie runner could not do something similar? Lastly, great series do not neccessarily make for great movies even when done by the same creative team (see X-Files movies... terrrrible). Good/great movies can make for terrible TV Series(Blade the series, Animal house series spinoffs et al), so why couldn't a campy but good movie that spawned a great TV series spawn a good movie?
ReplyDeleteI don't think Whedon is some infaliable genius (even if I do like most his projects) that is the only man capable of makign a Buffy movie. OK all that being said, without returning actors we grew to love, connection to the series or the team behind the series it is DEFINATELY an uphill battle. I personally will judge the movie on its own merits and not compare it to the series or the original movie directly. I am hopeful for a good vampire movie and not neccessarily a contuation of the Whedon Buffyverse.
Oh dear.
ReplyDeleteWha-WHAT THE ?!!!!!!?!?!?!???? GAH WFT it hurts my brain to think about it, not to mention my soul!...!!^2!@*@!!!!!^%!&! expletives!7!*!1@!!
ReplyDeleteAs hard as it is to swallow you all have to remember that there's a whole generation who wasn't old enough to watch Buffy and are all into vampires, so this might actually rake in the money... :/
ReplyDeleteThe TV show ended seven years ago.
ReplyDeleteIt ain't so old where "a whole generation" can't watch the DVDs.
This remake isn't for a whole new generation. It's for money.
I'm not excited at all. The first movies was already fine, why do a reboot?
ReplyDeleteBuy WoW Account
Buffy - SMG = FAIL
ReplyDeleteBuffy - Wheadon = Disaster
LOL! I love that new Batman title Joss is going to make. xDDD
ReplyDeletehahahaha.
It would have been nice if they could have waited until he was able to work on it or picked someone he felt would be able to do it justice or something. D:
I sure don't envy that Whit Anderson person chick lady.