Gr… Argh. A new Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie has been rumored to be in development since as early as 2010. This shouldn’t be news to anyone as the original 1992 film starring Kristy Swanson has become a cult classic and the seven season television adaption starring Sarah Michelle Gellar is often hailed as one of the most iconic shows of all time. As is the trend in Hollywood lately, if it was great, it needs a reboot or a remake… fast!
Now would be the perfect time to get Buffy the Vampire Slayer back on the big screen. Although the television show that bounced from the WB to UPN between 1997 and 2003 ended its run with a climactic battle against an army of vampires, the franchise has been alive in various reincarnations, most notably the canonical comic book continuations – Buffy Season 8, 9 and 10 – which is often penned and produced by Buffy creator Joss Whedon himself. And let’s not forget Stephen Byrne’s September 2014 viral video where he created a mock opening credits sequence for a fictional “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” animated series.
Despite the following this franchise holds, the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie entered into development Hell in 2011, just shortly after the first draft of the script was rejected. Things have stalled ever since, even though Warner Bros. has purchased the rights to the remake and were originally eyeing a 2012 release. It could be that those working behind-the-scenes are trying to rope Joss Whedon back into the mix. It was originally reported that he and all of the cast and crew members from the television should would not be invited back for the upcoming movie and that Fran Rubel Kuzui and Kaz Kuzui would be taking over from there.
Whedon has been on fire since the Buffy remake/reboot was proposed, having directed and produced feature films including The Cabin in the Woods, The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Obviously, if you’re going to bring the vampire slayer franchise back to the public eye, you’d need this hit maker on your team! Really, no one knows it better than him!
Recently speaking at a press conference for Avengers: Age of Ultron, which is hitting theaters nationwide on May 1, 2015, a reporter asked Whedon about the likelihood of his return to the rebirth of Buffy. He has been quoted as saying:
“Buffy has always been one of the projects nearest and dearest to my heart. It’s also the one story I can’t seem to escape, either. I know that Sarah Michelle Gellar has stated that she would return for a film if the script was fantastic, but there has been a lot of great stories proposed that could resurrect Buffy Summers in a new way. There’s a few cards on the table right now, as far as I’m aware. Currently, if you’re following the comics, Buffy is living in San Diego, so that might need to be the place we really kick this thing off. I’ll see you there.”
It just so happens that Whedon was recently announced as a guest at the world renounced Comic Con: San Diego which will be taking place July 9-12, 2015. Is the father of the best female heroine in history going to break the secret Buffy bubble at Comic Con and let us know where the film stands today? Is Sarah Michelle Gellar going to return? How much longer are we going to have wait for this movie? Probably forever…as this is all a joke. Happy April Fools Day, yal!
