Warner Bros. Pictures to Reboot Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[Spooky]

Warner Bros. Pictures to Reboot Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Atlas Entertainment announced today it is rebooting the beloved franchise, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with Warner Bros. Pictures. Atlas' Charles Roven and Steve Alexander will produce the feature film alongside Doug Davison and Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment (The Ring, How to Train Your Dragon, The Departed). Whit Anderson is writing the script.

Warner Bros. Pictures optioned the rights from creators Fran and Kaz Kuzui, and from Sandollar Productions (Sandy Gallin and Dolly Parton), for Atlas and Vertigo to produce. Buffy the Vampire Slayer first appeared as a film in 1992, subsequently becoming a cult hit and spawning the wildly popular television series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz, among many others.

"Whit approached us with an exciting idea about how to update Buffy," said Roven. "There is an active fan base eagerly awaiting this character's return to the big screen. We're thrilled to team up with Doug and Roy on a re-imagining of Buffy and the world she inhabits. Details of the film are being kept under wraps, but I can say while this is not your high school Buffy, she'll be just as witty, tough, and sexy as we all remember her to be."

Whit Anderson is represented by CAA, Wirehouse Entertainment and Julian Zajfen at Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca, Fischer, Gilbert-Lurie & Stifflemen.


http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=71838

[Spooky]

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

Back in her high school days in a Delaware small town, Whit Anderson's days were jammed with activity — academics and athletics were all-consuming and there was little time for empty entertainment. "I didn't really watch much television at all, but I always watched 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' that was the one show I would watch when I got home. I just loved this character. I was the same age as Buffy and it was so rare to have a female lead character on TV in those days who was strong and capable and smart but also allowed to be feminine."

During its seven-season run, the beloved "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series put some fang into high-school melodrama long before "Twilight" made the undead all sparkly, and one big reason was the ability of the show's creator, Joss Whedon, to put himself in the head of his female fans. Now we'll find out if that rapport works in the other direction as the 29-year-old Anderson works on the script for a Warner Bros. feature-film "Buffy" reboot that is moving forward without Whedon.

Anderson, with a chuckle, said she is "fighting through" the script right now, but her concept has already engerized some key supporters. Charles Roven, one of the producers of "Batman Begins," said his Atlas Entertainment signed on after he saw something special in Anderson's tone and story.

Cast members of the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series (Los Angeles Times archive)

"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 re-imagined. 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."

Roven added: "There is an active fan base eagerly awaiting this character's return.... While this is not your high-school Buffy, she'll be just as witty, tough and sexy as we all remember her to be." The project has plenty of hurdles ahead, and there is no announced director, but Roven said hopes to see the film reach theaters in 2012 or perhaps even 2011.

The character first appeared in the 1992 film "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," written by Whedon and starring Kristy Swanson, but it was Whedon's darker, more nuanced television series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar that took the property beyond simple satire and created a truly memorable pop-culture epic. The show ran on the WB and then UPN, and its 144 episodes secured an acclaim that far exceeded their ratings. Three years ago, TV Guide ranked it the third on a top 25 list of all-time cult shows, putting it right behind "Star Trek" and "The X-Files." More recently, Empire magazine put it at No. 2 on its list of best shows ever, a tally that had "The Simpsons" at No. 1 and"The Sopranos" at No. 3.

David Boreanaz and Sarah Michelle Gellar from the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" television series (Frank Ockenfels/The WB)

Anderson knows that without Whedon (who is gearing up to direct "The Avengers" for Marvel Studios) the most devoted fans of the old series will be keeping a skeptical eye on this nascent revival — and sharpening their wooden stakes. Anderson, who studied theater at Northwestern and moved to Los Angeles in 2003, said she will take the touchstones of the Whedon world but frame them in "a new story" that is very much of the moment. She cited Christopher Nolan's revival of Batman as a supreme example of how a familiar character and revered mythology can be brought to the big screen with a vital new vision.

"The thing that was so wonderful about 'Buffy' is what made it special was so timeless," Anderson said. "The deep struggle she had with duty and destiny, that tug between what you're supposed to be doing and what you want to be doing. The fate of the world is on her shoulders but some days she wakes up and she just doesn't want to do it. And are we doomed and destined to love someone? That conflict was very interesting to me. Those are the things I loved about her and her world. She also represents — like all the heroes — something empowering for us. She's reminds us of what we could be if we were in our top form, the best of us if we were at our very best, and even then we still see the vulnerability and doubts she has inside. That's where we all connect."

– Geoff Boucher

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2010/11/22/joss-who-meet-the-writer-of-the-new-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-film/

[Spooky]

The Twitter-verse is in an uproar over the Non-Joss Buffy reboot ('Joss' and 'Whedon' are trending topics). Warner Bros is probably giddy at the response. Good or bad, it's publicity.

[AdmiralDigby]

I see no need to do this .

Can't wait .

Dang !

[Spooky]

"I always hoped that Buffy would live on even after my death. But, you know, AFTER. I don't love the idea of my creation in other hands, but I'm also well aware that many more hands than mine went into making that show what it was. And there is no legal grounds for doing anything other than sighing audibly. I can't wish people who are passionate about my little myth ill. I can, however, take this time to announce that I'm making a Batman movie. Because there's a franchise that truly needs updating. So look for The Dark Knight Rises Way Earlier Than That Other One And Also More Cheaply And In Toronto, rebooting into a theater near you."

- Joss

http://blastr.com/2010/11/joss-whedons-hilarious-re.php

[Spooky]

Joss Whedon TURNED DOWN that big-screen Buffy reboot?

The way the Interwebs exploded last week when it was announced a big-screen Buffy was in the works without Joss Whedon, you'd think Warner Brothers had kicked a puppy. But it turns out that Whedon himself was mostly to blame.

Apparently, Whedon was offered a shot at being in charge of Buffy once more, but decided that The Avengers was more important.

Per The Hollywood Reporter:

According to studio insiders, he was approached last year after Buffy rightsholder Fran Rubel Kuzui and husband Kaz Kuzui began developing a remake with Vertigo. After presented with the opportunity, Whedon decided he'd rather work on other projects (he's making Marvel Studios' The Avengers). Producers then began searching for a writer and late last year hired actress-turned-scribe Whit Anderson. The unknown Anderson, with only bit film appearances to her credit, came up with a take on the Buffy myth that was strong enough after a couple of drafts to lure Atlas, which partnered with Vertigo to set it up at a studio.
Does that make you feel any better at the thought of a Whedon-less Buffy?

Nah. We didn't think so.

[TinkTanker]

He had nothing to gain from doing the reboot. Chances are it will be a turd, no matter what. If he had done it, he'd be accused of hanging on to the past and not doing anything new. Had it done it and it tanked, he would be blamed. If he didn't do it and it tanked, people would say he was smart for not doing it. If by some small miracle it does do well, Whedon can be magnanimous and congratulate the new folks.

[Spooky]

If by some small miracle it does do well, Whedon can be magnanimous and congratulate the new folks.

...and his name will be mentioned like crazy as the creator and it's all good for Joss. Whether it does well or not, it's no skin off Joss's hide.

I do roll my eyes every time I see the Kazui name on Buffy and Angel during the opening credits. Aside from owning some of the rights, they had NOTHING to do with the TV show.

[TinkTanker]

I had no idea that half of Sandollar Productions was Dolly Parton.

[AdmiralDigby]

I had no idea that half of Sandollar Productions was Dolly Parton.

And she didn't do a cameo ?

Drat !