The new Buffy series will not be made! Disney rejects the pilot

With a heavy heart, Sarah Michelle Gellar announces it to fans today.

Stake in the hearts of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans.

Disney and its Hulu platform finally decided not to resurrect the cult series and not to order a sequel, a few weeks after filming the pilot Buffy: New Sunnydale. The information was revealed on Saturday by Sarah Michelle Gellar herself in a video posted on Instagram.

“I’m really sad to have to share this, but I wanted you to hear it from me… Unfortunately, Hulu has decided not to move forward with Buffy: New Sunnydale. I want to thank Chloé Zhao, because I never imagined myself finding myself in the stylish – yet affordable – shoes of Buffy again. Thanks to Chloé, I was reminded how much I love her and how much she means, not only to me but to all of you. And nothing can do that. change.

The 48-year-old actress concludes by specifying that she is always willing, if Disney ever changes its mind or another project sees the light of day:

“I promise if the apocalypse really happens, you can always page me.”

The pilot was filmed last summer with Ryan Kiera Armstrong (The Lowdown) in the lead role. She was to play the new Slayer, described as a bright and cerebral teenager, more Willow than Buffy. The cast also included Sarah Bock (Severance), Ava Jean (Law & Order: SVU), Faly Rakotohavana (Unprisoned), Jack Cutmore-Scott (Frasier) and Daniel Di Tomasso (Major Crimes).

In this new incarnation set after the events of the original series, Sarah Michelle Gellar was to reprise her cult role of Buffy Summers, but in the form of recurring appearances. The plot was to follow the new Slayer and her own gang of “Scoobies”, presented as the next chapter of the Buffyverse.

The project had strong assets behind the camera: director Chloé Zhao, Oscar winner for best director for Nomadland (2020) had directed the pilot and was to produce the series…

So is the Buffy sequel dead and buried?

A source close to the series indicated that despite the abandonment of the reboot project, Buffy benefits from “unwavering love” and that the streaming platform will always consider future adaptations of the franchise: “Clearly, the door is always open” we tell Variety from Hulu.

Another project could one day exist. But this one is over. This is not the first time that the actress has experienced this type of disillusionment. About ten years ago, the project for a spin-off series from Sexe Intentions, a sequel to the film centered on the son of Annette and Sébastien, with Sarah Michelle Gellar returning in her cult role of Kathryn Merteuil, was ultimately not ordered by NBC after the filming of the pilot…