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Sarah Michelle Gellar announced early Saturday in an Instagram message that Hulu has decided not to move forward with a reboot of the hit 1990s series Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
"I am really sad to have to share this, but I wanted you all to hear it from me. Unfortunately, Hulu has decided not to move forward with Buffy: New Sunnydale," the actress said in a video. "I want to thank Chloé Zhao, because I never thought I would find myself back in Buffy's stylish yet affordable boots. And thanks to Chloé, I was reminded how much I love her and how much she means not only to me but to all of you."
"This doesn't change any of that, and I promise if the apocalypse actually comes, you can still beep me."
Gellar played the lead role of Buffy Summers in the series, which aired on The WB from March 10th, 1997, to May 22nd, 2001, and later on UPN from October 2nd, 2001, to May 20, 2003. It also starred Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles, Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg, Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris, David Boreanaz as Angel and Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers.
The updated version of the show was supposed to follow a younger Slayer, played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong, with Gellar's Buffy Summers returning to star in the series. Gellar also set to executive produce.
Other cast members included Faly Rakotohavana as Hugo, Ava Jean as Larkin, Sarah Bock as Gracie, Daniel Di Tomasso as Abe and Jack Cutmore-Scott as Mr. Burke.
Oscar winner Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, Hamnet) was set to direct with a script penned by Nora and Lilla Zuckerman (Poker Face).
The original series was created by Joss Whedon, based on the movie of the same name. But in recent years, Whedon has faced a series of allegations of sexual misconduct:
And yet, Whedon's behavior behind the scenes of Buffy could not be further from the show's feminist proclamations. The first formal allegations came out in early 2021, as Charisma Carpenter ('Cordelia' in the show) claimed Whedon harassed and bullied her behind the scenes of Buffy, as well as its spinoff show Angel. According to Carpenter, Whedon emotionally abused his cast, the women in particular, by commenting on their bodies, threatening to fire them, and going out of his way to publicly humiliate them. Since making these accusations, Carpenter has been joined and supported by other cast members from Buffy, including Sarah Michelle Gellar who played the titular role. Following Carpenter's statement, Gellar issued one of her own on Instagram, reading, "While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don't want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon." She goes on to advocate for survivors of abuse, thereby making her opinion of Whedon crystal clear.
The new production had went to great lengths to stress that Whedon would have np connection with the series. But having him connected even tangentially with memories of the original series couldn't have been helpful to getting the reboot off the ground.