The good news: Warner Bros. has said yes to a new Buffy The Vampire Slayer film.
The bad news: according to an article in the LA Times, the film is "moving forward without [Joss] Whedon."
Instead, the film is going with the relatively unknown Whit Anderson, who according to her resume at Internet Movie Database, has only a handful of credits to her record - as an actress. There's not a single writing credit to her name on IMDB. Not exactly confidence-inspiring.
Yet, according to another article at EW.com, Anderson is working with the support of Warner Bros. and producer Charles Roven, who also worked on the most recent Batman film, The Dark Knight. According to the EW article, their film - planned for a 2011 or 2012 arrival - "will not revisit the vampire slayer's high school days," perhaps wise to the fact that it will be hard to trump Whedon's TV version of Buffy in the eyes of devoted fans and TV buffs alike.
Details are still sparse, so it's hard to put together much of a picture at this date, but I can't blame fans for being skeptical. I'm a fan of the TV series myself, so like them, I appreciate how much Joss Whedon put into moving Buffy from a sometimes-lampooned Kristy Swanson movie into a television series that will now be a part of television history forever. I can't blame them for wanting him involved, even if he is working on The Avengers. Furthermore, I'm immensely skeptical of a writer who has apparently not written anything of note before (or even acted in much of note before, if IMDB is to be believed). I'm all for new blood, but I just can't help but feel with a project this important to a huge fanbase, they might have chosen someone more experienced.
UPDATE: E!'s Kristin Dos Santos scooped Whedon's reaction to the news, and it's quite frankly classic. In its entirety, from The Hollywood Reporter:
"Kristin, I'm glad you asked for my thoughts on the announcement of Buffy the cinema film. 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."
What do you think? Are you excited at the prospect of big-screen Buffy?
Brittany Frederick
DigitalAirwaves.net
