It turns out the “Buffy” reboot was fighting its own metaphorical monster: an executive who was outspoken about his lack of love for the original series.
Sarah Michelle Gellar has addressed Hulu’s decision to kill the much-anticipated “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” revival, telling People in an interview published Monday that she is “gutted” and that “nobody saw this coming.”
The actor had been set to reprise her iconic role in the reboot, tentatively titled “Buffy: New Sunnydale,” which she had been developing along with Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao for the Disney-owned streamer for years. Despite the enthusiasm around the project, which would have introduced Ryan Kiera Armstrong as the new slayer alongside Gellar’s Buffy, Gellar pointed to at least one very vocal detractor.
“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,” Gellar told the outlet.
“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,” she added. “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.”
Though Gellar did not name the executive, according to Deadline the person who made the decision not to proceed was Disney Television Group President Craig Erwich, who also oversees Hulu Originals.
Gellar seemed hurt by the timing of the decision too. She told People that she got the call with the bad news just as she was about to take the stage at SXSW for the premiere of her new movie, “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.” The film is a Searchlight Pictures production, which is under the same corporate umbrella as the “Buffy” revival’s Searchlight Television.
“For them to call us on the Friday of … my world premiere of something that I worked very hard for is … That says something,” she said, adding that she was “saddened at how it was handled and when it was handled.”
The actor also addressed the outpouring of love from “Buffy” fans and their reaction to the revival’s cancellation.
“[T]he fans, they were the only reason we were doing this show in the first place,” Gellar said. “We were doing it because everybody loves it. So how do you do a show that’s beloved with someone that doesn’t love it?”
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