Sarah Michelle Gellar reveals the real reason the Buffy revival was axed

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Sarah Michelle Gellar, star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has explained why the planned revival series fell apart. In an interview with PEOPLE, Gellar shared that a disagreement with one executive at Hulu was the reason the project was cancelled, despite her and director Chloé Zhao’s enthusiasm.

The popular actress from the 90s revealed she found out about the cancellation right before the premiere of her new film, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. She explained, “I was literally walking on stage in front of a crowd when I got the call. Hulu had decided not to continue with the Buffy reboot. It was a complete surprise to everyone involved.”

She explained that they had a guest on their show who disliked the original series and repeatedly pointed out that he hadn’t even watched it, making it clear it wasn’t to his taste.

It was incredibly challenging to revisit a show as cherished as Buffy, especially for both Chloé and me. From the very beginning, we faced an uphill battle, made even harder by the fact that the executive in charge openly admitted to never having seen the original series.

Gellar also wondered why the cancellation was announced right before the Oscars, where Zhao was nominated for Best Director for her film, Hamnet.

To get a call on Friday, right when Chloé deserved to be celebrating her amazing film, and I was about to premiere something I’d poured my heart into… it really speaks volumes.

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Zhao and Gellar have since spoken about the crushing development.

Look, me and Chloé are both really bummed about how things went down. It’s just disappointing, and honestly, we really didn’t want to let the fans feel let down – that’s the worst part. We’re both pretty upset with how and when everything was handled, you know?

I just told Chloé to focus on enjoying her accomplishments. I specifically said she should wear the crown on Sunday night, walk the red carpet, and soak in all the appreciation for her hard work, ignoring anything negative. It’s really important to me that this situation doesn’t overshadow everything we’ve all achieved, and we always have more goals to work towards.

So, people have been asking about what’s next for this show we filmed a pilot for, and honestly, I just don’t know yet. It’s still super early days, and we haven’t made any decisions about where things are going.

Ryan Kiera Armstrong, who appeared in American Horror Story, was set to play the lead role in a new Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, tentatively titled Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale. After Sarah Michelle Gellar announced the show was canceled, Armstrong posted a photo of herself in costume on social media with the caption: “Your slayer.”

Sarah Michelle Gellar praised Ryan Kiera Armstrong, calling her a fantastic performer. She expressed disappointment that more people won’t get to see Armstrong play the role of a slayer.

She explained that she enjoyed the contrast between the new slayer, who was just starting out like Buffy was in the original series, and the more experienced version of Buffy herself. It allowed them to explore both sides of that journey.

Sources say that despite Disney owning the rights to the project, the creative team – including Sarah, Chloé, Nora, and Lilla Zuckerman (the writers and producers) – are free to pursue other opportunities with their skills and concepts.

I’m so excited! It looks like they’re bringing back Buffy the Vampire Slayer with ‘New Sunnydale’ – it’s going to be streaming on Hulu here in the US. And if you’re in the UK, it’s all tied in with Disney+. The best part is, you can already watch all the original seasons on Disney+ and ITVX in the UK, or on Hulu if you’re like me and live in the US!

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2026-03-17 15:19