Butthead The Franchise Slayer

Have you seen the news (thanks to Pop Candy for the heads up)? I’ll bet you already have if you’re a “Whedonite,” but for the rest of you here’s what’s what: the folks behind the 1992 feature film Buffy the Vampire Slayer want us to go to the movies to see their Buffy again.

At least their theatrical version of a Buffy reboot/relaunch/remake/ reimagining.

And apparently without Joss Whedon’s creative input/direction (the fact they didn’t go to him first is a very telling thing – after all he only CREATED the character). That sound you hear is the Internet TRAINWRECK resulting from this decision.

Here’s a very simple question: WHO is the audience for this thing? That’s a very basic question every producer/studio and their marketing peeps ask or should be asking with regard to their film/TV shows. It’s not Joss Whedon’s rabid, though not as large as it should be, fan base since he’s not involved. It’s not the ’92 feature film’s audience, because there really wasn’t one (and that was more of a Kristy Swanson fan base anyway [I’m Kristy Swanson card carrying fan No. 38272], and her time has long since come and gone – even her Playboy spread, done too late in her career, couldn’t save her). They want to use the basic concepts or premise but none of the established characters or storylines.
You know they are only digging this up because of what happened with the Twilight film (and what happened was swooning ‘tween girls and their moms giving up their $$$). The ’92 Buffy film director Fran Rubel Kuzui totally disregarded the tone and intention of Joss Whedon’s original vision – after all he was only the writer/creator (and what has she directed since then - zilch). When Whedon brought Buffy to the WB network in 1997 he was in charge (although Kuzui received an Exec. Producer credit, as a rightsholder and not a creative force on the show). When the "Buffyverse" spun off into comics, Whedon was the guiding force over the established characters, when he was not the credited writer. And when he created an all new Slayer comic book character in Fray, it was still Joss Whedon writing it.

But now, no Buffy Summers, no Buffyverse, and most importantly no Joss Whedon. Yeah, this new movie has “success” written all over it. It's a Hollywood first, a movie made for no one!

Ms. Kuzui and the producers/studio behind this, start playing cricket sound effects in your offices now. Because if you make this movie this way, that is the sound you will hear in empty movie theaters.