Warner Bros. Rebooting Buffy; Joss Whedon Has "Mixed Emotions"

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is coming back — to the big screen.

Warner Bros. plans to remake the 1992 film that paved way for the 1997 cult series, the company announced Monday.

Check out photos from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Details are being kept under wraps, but the film will not revisit the heroine's high school days. Joss Whedon, who wrote the screenplay for the first film and created the beloved television show, will not be part of the project. And he doesn't sound thrilled about it.

"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," Whedon told E! Online via e-mail. "Obviously I have strong, mixed emotions about something like this.

"I always hoped that Buffy would live on even after my death. But, you know, AFTER," Whedon continued. "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."

Atlas Entertainment's Charles Roven and Steve Alexander will produce the movie, alongside Vertigo Entertainment's Doug Davison and Roy Lee (The Ring, How to Train Your Dragon, The Departed). Whit Anderson is writing the script.

"Whit approached us with an exciting idea about how to update Buffy," Roven said. "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. ... She'll be just as witty, tough and sexy as we all remember her to be."

Starring Kristy Swanson, the initial movie was a campy horror flick — a style with which Whedon was dissatisfied. He later developed his original darker vision for the WB/UPN series, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, which ran for seven seasons and spawned a spinoff, Angel.

The new Buffy film will hit theaters in 2012 or late 2011, Roven tells the Los Angeles Times.

Will you check out the new Buffy?

source: TV Guide

I have to honestly say that Joss plugging The Avengers movie (which I am not looking forward to 'because' he's doing it) was tacky on his part. Me personally, I'd watch a Re-boot movie of Buffy, simply because the original Buffy movie wasn't that great. I don't even associate the movie with the TV series, because they're like two different species, so thinking on that line a new movie could be good. The fact that it's a 're-boot' hopefully meaning 'starting over with something different' is a good thing.

I haven't really enjoyed the comics books at all, so I think the fandom needs something fresh.

After the show, I can't see anyone else playing Buffy/Spike. Of course, they're counting on fans going to see anything named BtVS. Sadly, I know of so many who complain about that or other fandoms but no matter how much they gripe, pay to see it which is the ONLY support a film/TV maker needs. The ONLY was to show lack of support is lack of $$$.

They are not planning on using any other characters from the original TV verse. This is a blatant attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, and True Blood, and Whit Anderson, the person who approached them with the idea for the completely unnecessary reboot is going to get flamed beyond belief.

She's a fan of the series, she says. She wants to make Buffy relevant to today. When did Buffy become IRRELEVANT? Seven years after the series finale, and people are STILL talking about the show, talking about the characters, and watching the series. What the hell needs to be rebooted, exactly?

Whoever they choose to play Buffy -- if they're even going to name her Buffy at this point -- is going to come under fire, too. She's going to constantly be compared to Sarah Michelle Gellar, and if she comes up short, she'll be booed. If she does better than Gellar, she's going to be booed, because Sarah portrayed Buffy for a full 144 episodes -- there IS no other Buffy.

I'm so furious about this news. I want nothing to do with the new movie. Under the name Buffy or not, the fact of the matter is that without Joss Whedon and the original, beloved cast mates that made Buffy what it was, there IS no Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

As I said before Buffy is not The Doctor therefore cannot change faces. I think this is just attempt to make money because they see how popular other vampire shows are. And how popular was and still is Buffy. But they are making big mistake. If they want a slayer, they should just made up completely new character whose name is not Buffy.

Yes, there is an active fanbase - but why? Because Buffy created by Joss Whedon is something extraordinary.

And seriously if they want to use another original characters played by someone else, it´s going to be a disaster. I can´t imagine Spike (I know, I just HAD to mention him) being played by anyone else than James Marstrers. Same goes for the others.

If you want to make money, go and find your original characters and original plot and don´t copy this great work. Just let Buffy rest in peace.

Well it's a reboot of the first movie, not the TV series (two different beasts). Buffy in the movie was/is nothing like Buffy on the TV series, though they tried in the beginning on the TV series, but they made a smart move and changed that. So with a reboot anything can happen and I doubt that Spike would be in it at all.