Joss-less Buffy 'Reboot' = BIG BAD!

[cmurph]

May 26, 2009 10:25:07 GMT -5 AndrewCrossett said:

There is no canonical Buffy without Joss. Period.

And there's no Buffy at all without Fox. Period.

Well, I hope your right...

[cheryl]

Well there is also no Buffy without SMG. I can't imagine what these people are thinking.

On another note...Buffy isn't even dead. It is being continued as we speak. How do you revamp a character/series that is still going on?

[ambersknight]

It may not be canonical Buffy, indeed it might be terrible, but it might not maybe we should have some inkling of what is ACTUALLY being placed before us before we rush to judgment on this.

It got re-booted once and was superb. Who says lightning can't strike twice?

[cheryl]

Oh, lightening can strike alright, but not everyone is talented enough to catch it in a bottle. Some might get burned alive trying. Joss is the ONLY person who should be screwing around with Buffy. SMG is the only actress who will be accepted as Buffy. In my eyes anyway.

If these people have such a great idea to make something of a vampire slayer via a big screen movie, let them. Just stay away from Buffy as we know it. Do I believe that Buffy can be remade into something better? No.

[Mathieu]

I have to agree with Ambersknight on that one.

I think that having a Buffy movie without Joss and the original cast involved sounds like a terrible idea but who are we to call it awful already even before the movie is made?

[butters]

Ha, Maybe SMG will audition for Buffy. This is just such a bad idea!

[AndrewCrossett]

Sorry... I know some of you will take the "it's just business" attitude toward this... but Buffy is Joss's baby and I find it morally wrong that someone is trying to do an end-run around him, diverting potential new fans away from his work and defaming the whole idea of Buffy if the movie turns out as badly as I would expect it to, considering it's being done by the people who took Joss's great idea and made it suck.

[iamthewalrus]

Buffy's a trending topic on twitter now ;D

we ain't happy fans

[dravenuk]

No to Buffy without Joss. No to Buffy without SMG and the rest of the scoobies.

This is just such a terrible idea.

I thought it would probably happen one day in the far distant future when Fox might want a new tv series or movie to restart the franchise. But not yet. Not when the show has only been off the air for six years and is still just as popular and the story is still continuing very successfully in comic book form.

Fox and Fran Kazui need to understand that everything that's great about Buffy starts and ends with Joss Whedon. Buffy is his vision. His character. His story to tell. Buffy failed as a movie because the Kazui's took Joss' idea and script and had no idea what to do with it. It took Joss himself to develop his idea properly on tv. And that is where it flourished. The beauty of Buffy is in the writing, the characters, the casting and in the shows thematic and allegoric resonance. It's not just a story about a girl who slays vampires. It's so much more than that. Personally I have waaay too much invested in the 'real' Buffy, and in her continuing world and all of her friends and enemies. At best I will do whatever I can to oppose this remake. At worst I will just completely ignore it if it ever happens.

But with any luck Fox will just veto this as a stupid idea.

Can't they just give us the animated series? That would be pretty darn great.

[jellymoff]

Lots of opinions.

I am not suprised that they are talking about this. I figured that this would happen eventually, I just thought it would be in another 10 years or so.

People are using JJ's Star Trek to compare, but this was a case were an exceptional talent took on a dying franchise and rebooted it. This is the same thing that I would like to see happen in a Buffy Reboot. I'd be totally up for a new generation of Buffy, but let's wait a bit, and make sure that the right people can make this happen.

Hopefully, when Brian Lynch is a big time screenwriter/TV Creator, he can take on the "Angel" reboot!

[88daystillsunrise]

I completely agree that this is a horrible idea, No Joss= No movie. I honestly don't think a movie should be made at all, Buffy is still alive in the comics. I had never read a comic in my life until my husband told me the series continued through them.. If they do end up making a movie, they need JOSS, the original cast and they need to follow in with the continued story!!!

[ambersknight]

Actually, they don't NEED Joss, they just need to stay true to his principles. No joss does not automatically mean no good movie. Might be argued that Joss is so used to writing Buffy in terms of full seasons he wouldn't be able to shrink the show down to a film format. Many of the actors may not want to come back for their own reasons.

I'm not saying the film will be terrible, or that Joss shouldn't do it (cos I think it would work), but I can't dismiss the film based on only a flimsy report that doesn't give any details with which to make any judgement on.

[AndrewCrossett]

Man... it's just killing me to read all the comments on Whedonesque and not be able to respond.

How the hell do you get a membership there?

[rmw]

This cannot be happening. I won't see it.

[Skytteflickan88]

May 26, 2009 12:07:36 GMT -5 AndrewCrossett said:

Man... it's just killing me to read all the comments on Whedonesque and not be able to respond.

How the hell do you get a membership there?

Sleep with Joss.

Or one of the admins/mods of the site.

The second alternative sounds easier(because you know, Joss is super-busy).

Or keep checking. They usually have open registration on holidays.

[ambersknight]

I am struggling to understand how anyone can refuse to see this film when they don't know the facts of it. Before making blinding statements which you may end up looking foolish for, wait and see what is actually being written and cast and filmed and THEN, if it doesn't seem right you would then at least have some merit.

But the idea of Buffy without Joss as automatically a bad thing is not something I can go with. it possibly will be bad, or possibly might be average, or possibly might be good. let's at least see what is being proposed before making snap judgements.

[rmw]

I suppose it all depends on how it's done. A new generation of Slayer, without any mention of Buffy...maybe. But if they were to just remake Buffy, using the same character and pretending the show never existed...I don't know about that one.

I'll just shut up now as I'll end up looking more foolish, I'm sure.

[AndrewCrossett]

May 26, 2009 12:15:16 GMT -5 @ambersknight said:

I am struggling to understand how anyone can refuse to see this film when they don't know the facts of it. Before making blinding statements which you may end up looking foolish for, wait and see what is actually being written and cast and filmed and THEN, if it doesn't seem right you would then at least have some merit.

Because of the moral wrongness that I mentioned up above. And because the last time the Kuzuis made a Buffy movie, they took a great script by Joss and ruined it. If they had the capacity to make something better, they would have done so in the last 17 years.

We could just say it's not canonical, it's just fanfic, let them do whatever they want, we know Joss is the only true source of Buffy. But casual fans, and potential new fans, don't make that distinction. The fandom will be split, and the casual fans will associate Joss with whatever train wreck the Kuzuis come out with, whether he was involved or not.

Fox needs to block this, and I'm certain they will.

[Paul]

Re-reading the article, I am not so keen on the idea of trying to squeeze the movie into existing continuity. I am not sure if this talk of the "each generation has a Slayer" refers to some in-universe re-incarnation lore, or to real life generations have their "own" Buffy. If it's the latter, I quite like that idea, it's kind of like James Bond where everyone has their favourite that they grew up with. I have no problem with another actress standing next to Kristy Swanson (who was a perfectly good Buffy in her own right) and Sarah Michelle Gellar.

May 26, 2009 10:06:19 GMT -5 Wyndam said:

I don't so much see people overreacting, but see people realizing how stupid of an idea this is. What is the artistic value of this? A big budget Hollywood re-imagining of a series that is barely 10 years old? All it would amount to is some incapable young actress fighting some vampire threat that will most likely be a rehash of all we have seen before. No substance and teh potential to destroy everything we love about this franchise.

I don't see how any one could think Miley Cyrus or some other silly young actress becoming the next Buffy, without any of the "magic" Joss brings to the series, that is now tailored to the normal Hollywood masses (re: minimal substance in order to make the maximum amount of cash), would be a good idea.

In 5 years, if this movie is made, then people will be associating "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" with yet another terrible movie that bombed at the box office, and not the brilliant series we all know in love.

This is just a bad, bad idea.

"Destroy everything we love about this franchise"? Hardly. The original series is still there in all it's glory, some crappy remake won't ever change that. Again, look at Halloween, is that any less respected because of the Rob Zombie version? You're saying it will have no substance when you know nothing about the movie. Judge a book by it's cover much? A decade ago, the idea of making a substantial TV series out of the Buffy movie would have seemed ludicrous. How do you know this remake won't surprise everyone as well?

I am not saying the movie will be good. Certainly, if it follows the insipid example set by Twilight we are all doomed. But we don't know that it will so take a pill.

May 26, 2009 10:07:04 GMT -5 Emmie said:

Paul, the fact that it's the Kuzui's is a big part of why people are "overreacting". And I echo what Wyndam said.

I don't really know much about them besides the fact they were involved in the original film. I just noticed one of them directed it, didn't Joss once clarify that the director was NOT to blame for the movie's sucky quality. Plus they were involved in the show (I remember their names in the credits) so that's a good thing? Like I said, they mean nothing to me so I have no opinion.

May 26, 2009 10:41:05 GMT -5 cheryl said:

On another note...Buffy isn't even dead. It is being continued as we speak. How do you revamp a character/series that is still going on?

The original Halloween series was continued through canonical comics after they started making remakes. Marvel Comics rebooted several of their titles as "Ultimate Marvel" while the original series continued and remained popular. It is quite common for a series to have various continuties running parallel to each other.

May 26, 2009 10:58:28 GMT -5 AndrewCrossett said:

Sorry... I know some of you will take the "it's just business" attitude toward this... but Buffy is Joss's baby and I find it morally wrong that someone is trying to do an end-run around him, diverting potential new fans away from his work and defaming the whole idea of Buffy if the movie turns out as badly as I would expect it to, considering it's being done by the people who took Joss's great idea and made it suck.

All this talk of "it's not Buffy without Joss". What about the James Bond movies... are they not good because they weren't made by Ian Flemming? Sure, his novels are the true Bond canon and everything else is basically expanded universe, but does mean the movies mean nothing? As for diverting fans and defaming Buffy, even if the movie does turn out badly, it will probably only result in more fans of the TV series because everyone will say "Go watch the show instead".

A lot of this is knee-jerk fanboy reaction. We love something and feel angry when someone threatens to change or disrespect it, it's natural. But being different does not mean it will be bad and we should stop being so narrow-minded. This happens in every franchise...

"OMG, Wolverine is six feet tall and wears black leather instead of yellow spandex!!??"

"OMG, Spider-Man has organic web-shooters??!!!"

"OMG, they turned Link into a cartoon!!!"

"OMG, James Bond has blonde hair!!!!??"

All of the above turned out just fine.

[cheryl]

I'm struggling to see how anyone who followed the series could think that this is anything other than a horrible idea. It ISN'T just no Joss, as if that isn't bad enough for you. It's also no SMG as Buffy.