As you've probably heard, as of yesterday Warner announced they are officially going forward with their idea of a Buffy reboot, using none of the cast... no Joss Whedon... and hell, let's not put her in high school, either. I mean, it's not like the high school actually played into the metaphor or anything, right? We'll call it "Resident Evil: Sunnydale Edition."
As you can probably tell, I won't exactly be the first person in line.
Anyway, Joss responded to the news late yesterday:
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.
Obviously I have strong, mixed emotions about something like this. My first reaction upon hearing who was writing it was, "Whit Stillman AND Wes Anderson? This is gonna be the most sardonically adorable movie EVER." Apparently I was misinformed. Then I thought, "I'll make a mint! This is worth more than all my Toy Story residuals combined!" Apparently I am seldom informed of anything. And possibly a little slow. But seriously, are vampires even popular any more?
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.
Leave me to my pain! Sincerely, Joss Whedon.
Thanks to Sagacious Penguin for the link!
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8 comments:
I didn't watch Buffy when it was on TV (life was busy then)... but I did see the first movie (Jim Carrey AND Kristy Swanson!)...
It's good to see Joss's response is just as witty as his scripts.
Nik, I cannot tell you how much this causes me to roll my eyes, sigh and assume that Hollywood is really filled with idiots who have no idea what we, the ticket buyer, want in our entertainment.
A Buffy movie with Whedon and the cast = awesome. Without any of them = stupid crap not worth my time.
i will be joining you, in doing anything but standing in line for this garbage.
As usual, Joss's response is brilliant and hilarious.
@Jon - Jim Carrey wasn't in the original Buffy movie. Are you maybe thinking of his 80's vampire movie, "Once Bitten?"
No Jim Carrey, BUT Hilary Swank. That's a trade I can live with.
Wow. A twenty-nine-year-old writer with no previous screenwriting experience? That's worse than I thought it would be. Who'll direct, Uwe Boll?
"Grr! Arrgh!"
It had to be said. 8^)
While I think Buffy is a bit too fresh to make sense as the basis of a "reboot" — this was a long-running, densely plotted and mythologized TV series, not a spate of often recast or revised movies like the Batman or James Bond franchises — I'm grateful that it is at least apparently an actual reboot and not a relaunch of the TV-series continuity with new actors stepping directly into the shoes of those we know and love, as some places have reported.
And I'm not really up on the desires or availability of the extant former Buffy/Angel troupe, but with only David Boreanaz and Alyson Hannigan coming to mind as having even potentially problematic steady gigs, it feels like, with Whedon himself about to reach a whole new level of name recognition directing The Avengers, Fox and the Kazuis could do a whole lot worse than finally continue the series on the big screen with the TV cast, perhaps using the time it would take to make that happen (and the goodwill generated by the mostly praised continuation in Dark Horse's Season Eight comics, which I realize aren't really on the radar outside of Buffy fans) to give the DVDs a spiffy re-release and get that danged animated series off the ground as an appetite-whetting prequel project.
VW: matheth — v. To perform equations in little-known Shakespearean Geometry.
Someday I hope someone publishes a book collecting all of Joss' brilliantly scathing and sarcastic letters to idiot studio heads and networks that he's sent through the years.
That would be a fun (and sad...) book.
Needless to say, this sounds all kinds of ridiculous, first and foremost because they're rebooting a property that hasn't even been off the air for ten years and still has a spot in the current pop culture zeitgeist thanks to the comics and whatnot.
Spider-man hasn't even been out of the theaters for four years, and they're rebooting him!
It's gotta only be a matter of time for LOST...
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