Sarah Michelle Gellar says one executive made ‘Buffy’ reboot an ‘uphill battle’ from the start

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The planned reboot of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” faced a challenge from within: an executive publicly admitted to not being a fan of the original show.

Sarah Michelle Gellar has spoken out about Hulu canceling the planned “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot, telling People magazine she was devastated by the news and that the decision was completely unexpected.

The actress was going to return to her famous role in a planned reboot called “Buffy: New Sunnydale,” a project she’d been working on with Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao for Disney+ for several years. Although there was a lot of excitement about the show, which would have starred Ryan Kiera Armstrong as the new slayer alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy, Gellar revealed that at least one person was strongly opposed to it.

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Hulu has decided not to move ahead with the planned reboot of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’ A fan expressed their disappointment to The Times, saying they had waited years for this to happen.

Gellar shared that a guest on their show openly disliked the original series, and repeatedly pointed out that they hadn’t even watched the whole thing, making it clear it wasn’t to their taste.

It was incredibly challenging to revisit such a cherished show like ‘Buffy,’ both for the fans and for Chloé and myself. We faced an uphill battle from the start, especially since the executive in charge openly admitted he’d never even watched the original series.

While Gellar didn’t reveal which executive was responsible, Deadline reports that Craig Erwich, President of Disney Television Group and also in charge of Hulu Originals, made the decision to cancel the project. Hulu hasn’t yet commented on the matter.

Gellar was also upset about when she found out. She shared with People that she received the news right before the premiere of her new film, “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” at SXSW. Both the movie and the planned “Buffy” revival are produced by Searchlight Pictures and its television division, Searchlight Television.

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She expressed disappointment that they contacted her on the Friday of what she’d worked incredibly hard on – the premiere of her project – and felt the timing was particularly insensitive. She also said she was upset with how the situation was managed.

It meant a lot to me to talk about how much the ‘Buffy’ fans have always shown their support, and how they felt when we learned the revival wasn’t going to happen. Their reaction really touched me, and I wanted to acknowledge it.

Gellar explained that the fans were the main reason they even started the show. They wanted to create something everyone enjoyed, so it was difficult to continue with someone who didn’t share that passion for the project.

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2026-03-17 23:01