A new report alleges that the brunt of the blame for the Buffy sequel getting axed lays on director Chloe Zhao.
Variety’s Kate Arthur claimed that she was informed by two sources that “Zhao proved to be a mismatch for ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunndaydale. … Those sources say that Zhao’s prodigious skills as a director didn’t lend themselves to a television pilot that requires a lot of exposition. It was undershot, and there wasn’t any coverage, one source said, so there would have had to be reshoots on the pilot anyway. The performances from the actors playing the new characters, who need to make a strong impression as they’re introduced, were under-directed, the sources said.”
Additionally, Arthur reported, “Sources tell Variety that her take on “Buffy” might have not been mainstream enough for Hulu.”
However, a Disney spokesman informed Variety, “Our decision not to move forward with a series order is not a reflection of our respect and admiration for the creative team, including Lilla and Nora.”
Sarah Michelle Gellar, who was set to reprise her role as Buffy, announced that the show had been axed in an Instagram post on March 14th, “Unfortunately, Hulu has decided not to move forward with Buffy: New Sunnydale.”
Then in an interview with People on Sunday, March 15th, she shared more details about the show and why it was canceled.
On the show, Gellar said, “The dialogue flew off the tongue. When I was on set, it was craziness. It was like, ‘Oh, we’re here. We’re doing this.’ I loved the duality that we had this new, younger slayer who was where Buffy was when the show started, and then we would pick up with where Buffy was now.”
“And I’d like to use this moment also to say that Ryan Kiera Armstrong is a superstar,” she added. “I’m gutted that no one will see her as a slayer.”
As for why it was scrapped, she said, “No one saw this coming, including the head of Searchlight [Pictures].”
However, she then added, “We had an executive on our show who was not only not a fan of the original, but was proud to constantly remind us that he had never seen the entirety of the series and how it wasn’t for him.”
“That’s very hard when you’re taking a property that is as beloved as Buffy, not just to the world, but to me and Chloé. So that tells you the uphill battle that we had been fighting since day one, when your executive is literally proud to tell you that he didn’t watch it,” she said.
Following Gellar’s interview with People, Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva claimed that a pickup for the show was expected after writers Nora and Lilla Zuckerman did a rewrite and put in more Buffy Summers. However, Craig Erwich, who runs the Disney Television Group chose to scrap the show. Andreeva claims that Erwich is the executive that Gellar referred to who did not like the original show.
Scooper John Rocha claims that it wasn’t Erwich or any other unnamed executive that killed the show, but rather it was just simply bad. He wrote on X, “So I reached out to a couple of TV sources behind the scenes and they both confirmed to me that it was just a BAD pilot.”
“They also told me that Hulu STILL wanted to put it on the air so badly that they almost picked it up. It wasn’t some big, bad, CONVENIENTLY UNNAMED Hulu exec who killed it,” he added. “My guess is that cooler heads prevailed once they all saw how bad it was and decided not to put it out to save the Buffy brand from damage which was smart. Maybe SMG and the studio came up with this phantom Hulu exec excuse to cover up her EPing a bad show to save her personal brand as well. It happens sometimes in Hollywood, y’all.”
The full script for the pilot allegedly leaked and it is terrible, chock full of feminism.
At one point, a high school girl named Stacy tells her boyfriend Chris, “You could’ve at least defended me.”
Chris replies, “I didn’t want to take away your agency, babe. You hate it when I dim your light.”
Stacy retorts, “That is so you, trying to weaponize my feminism against me. I’m going home.”
After she splits with Chris, who wanted to stay for the preview of Vampire Weekend 2025, and begins walking through a construction area, she says to herself, “So much for freakin’ allies.”
Chris later texts her saying, “I’m sorry. I couldn’t stay. #Solidarity.”
At another point in the script, Nova, the new slayer, kills a vampire while a boy named Hugo saw it. After getting excited that she’s a new slayer, Nova reveals she has no clue what he’s talking about and informs him, “I was fighting because I thought I was gonna be... (pointed)I was walking alone? At night? What they warn us not to do.”
Hugo replies, “Whoa. Yeah. I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it from that perspective. Thank you for educating me.”
Nova retorts, “Welcome to being a girl. It’s a lot.”
A little bit later in their conservation Hugo also makes light of the alleged death of their history teacher, “Okay. Vampire, lotta blood, no Mr. Burke... I’m thinking no history quiz on Monday.”
Still another in another part of the script, Hugo shares, “A Slayer also gets some kind of handler. He’s called a Watcher.”
A character named Larkin responds, “Ew. It’s giving patriarchy.”
As for Gellar’s role in the pilot, she only appears at the end where it’s revealed Buffy’s working at an insurance company under the guise of Anne Summers.
At the Oscars, Zhao shared her reaction to the series getting scrapped revealing she was “not surprised.”
“I had an incredible, incredible time with Sarah [Michelle Gellar], with all the cast and crew doing this. And we, first and foremost, see ourselves as the guardians of the original show,” she added. “Our priority for Sarah and for us has always been to be truthful to the show, to be truthful to our fans. So, things happen for a reason, and we keep our hearts open and we welcome the mystery. And what this might lead us to.”
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