Last month, the internet Outrage of the Month was the news that producer/director team Kaz and Fran Rubel Kuzui were planning on mounting a remake of the film version of Buffy The Vampire Slayer without the involvement of Joss Whedon, the writer who penned the film and then turned it into a television classic.
As the series’s fans redefine the notion of loyalty, a large hue and cry arose that an attempt to remount the property on the big screen without its creator amounts to sacrilege. And for the most part, the fans are probably right. The film version of Buffy is pretty much acknowledged as a failure, while the television series has received numerous critical plaudits. As films are generally considered a director’s medium while television is considered a writer’s medium, it seems fairly clear as to where credit for the film’s failure and the television series’s success can be laid.
The one thing fans seemed to have forgotten to ask themselves is, “Would Joss Whedon even want to be involved in a big screen remake of the film?”
Well, Entertainment Weekly actually did ask the writer/director that question and got an answer that may surprise some.
I believe [the producers] did ultimately reach out to my agent after the news broke… I think that’s something better left untouched by me. So, I wish them luck.
Of course, Whedon is fairly busy right now between serving as producer of the upcoming horror film Cabin In The Woods and starting up production of the second season of his series Dollhouse for Fox. But I have to wonder how much of his comment is fueled by bad feelings towards the Kuzuis over their bungling of the original film.
