New Buffy the Vampire Slayer Movie Without Joss Whedon.

Image from Los Angeles Times

Dumbest. Idea. Ever.

Once upon a time, there was a comedy movie called Buffy the Vampire Slayer, starring Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry. It was a silly little movie that put supernatural creatures into a Clueless-type universe. It was a fluffy little concoction, and I enjoyed it for what it was. Then, a few years later, the writer of the movie turned his movie into a TV-series.

The TV version starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, of course, and became--if not a ratings success--one of the biggest cult sci-fi/fantasy/horror/comedy series of all time. The premise of the movie was fleshed out into a rich, sprawling world (the "Buffyverse") that would even produce a spinoff, Angel, starring Bones' David Boreanaz. Joss Whedon (also the creator of Dollhouse and Firefly) was responsible for all of this, and his fans may not be able to adequately support a network show, but they are very, very loyal.

Flash-forward a few years, and vampires are hot.  True Blood splashes gore on HBO, The Vampire Diaries is treading similar waters that Buffy swam years ago on The CW, and Twilight sparkles up the big screen.  But as the ABC summer series The Gates proved, merely having vampires around does not guarantee success. Still, if you owned the rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, wouldn't you want to use them?

Well, maybe, but they probably should have struck when the trend was a little hotter. All of the above have been around for a couple of years now. Plus, if they had any brains at all, they'd know that the value of BTVS is not in the title or the concept. It's in the creators, writers and actors.  Fans of Buffy are not going to go in for a project that merely shares the name of their show.  Unless by some miracle the thing turns out to be good, it is very likely to be completely shunned by Whedon's fans. Moreover, they're potentially wrecking any future Whedon-involved project based on the property.  Greedy idiots.

[Excerpt]

Joss Whedon responds to ‘Buffy’ news with ‘strong, mixed emotions’



. . .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. . .
 
Read more at: Los Angeles Times


[Excerpt]

Joss who? Meet the writer of the new ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ film

. . .“Generally, I wouldn’t have said, ‘Let’s revive this,’ but Whit’s take is pretty compelling and a lot of fun, and it’s interesting to see all of this reimagined. This is a completely new reboot. Tone is extremely important, and you want the audience to realize what is at stake and the peril is real, but at the same time what’s going on should be fun and inviting and keep everyone engaged. It needs to be relevant to today too, and that is what Whit has found a way to do. . .”

Read more at: Los Angeles Times