New details have emerged about the sudden cancellation of Buffy: New Sunnydale, a reboot that had been in development for years. Key figures involved in the project have now addressed what led to the unexpected decision to halt the series before it moved forward.
How Buffy: New Sunnydale reboot was shockingly canceled
Deadline reports that Hulu canceled Buffy: New Sunnydale after choosing not to move forward with the completed pilot despite expectations of a series pickup.
The project starred Sarah Michelle Gellar and had Chloé Zhao attached as director, and the team completed a rewrite that received strong internal support. However, Disney Television Group President Craig Erwich informed producers on a Friday evening that the show would not proceed.
Hulu ordered the pilot a year earlier, capping years of development on the reboot. The show introduced Ryan Kiera Armstrong as a new slayer alongside Gellar’s Buffy Summers. Production wrapped in July. After reviewing the pilot, Hulu said the show felt “too young” and “too small.” Writers Nora and Lilla Zuckerman then created a more adult 90-minute rewrite with greater focus on Buffy.
Sources say 20th Television and Searchlight Television responded positively to the revised script. Internal discussions pointed toward an imminent pickup. Despite this, Erwich made the final decision to pass on the project. Some sources suggested the updated version was too expensive. Others indicated it still did not meet the standard set by the original series.
Gellar stated, “No one saw this coming, including the head of Searchlight,” and described receiving the cancellation call just before appearing on stage at SXSW. She also said, “We had an executive on our show who was not only not a fan of the original, but was proud to constantly remind us that he had never seen the entirety of the series and how it wasn’t for him” (via PEOPLE). Sources identified the executive as Erwich.
The timing of the decision drew criticism, with sources calling it “misguided” and “terrible,” while noting there was no deadline forcing a cancellation despite waiting for an outcome.
