It seems like you can't swing a vampire in Hollywood without hitting a reboot or "re-imagining" of a fan-favorite franchise these days, from 'The A-Team' and 'Spider-Man' all the way down to 'V'.

Rumors of a proposed 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' movie reboot have been gaining momentum for months, but confirmation finally came Monday morning when Warner Bros. announced that the project is indeed going ahead.

But here's the kicker: It'll be without the involvement of 'Buffy' mastermind Joss Whedon, the man who wrote the screenplay to the original 1992 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' film and helmed the iconic TV series of the same name.

Instead, the project is being penned by Whit Anderson, an actress turned writer (with no previous screenwriting credits, according to IMDB) whose interview with the L.A. Times' Hero Complex sent fans -- including yours truly -- into an apoplectic, foaming fit of outrage yesterday. Just another Monday on the internet ...

But why has this announcement gotten fans so worked up, you ask? The answer: You have much to learn, grasshopper, but we'll try and lay down some of our concerns for you here.

While it's inarguable that some cult classics deserve a dusting off and a sprucing up for a new millennium -- one just has to look to J.J. Abrams' 'Star Trek' for an example of a reboot that stayed true to the spirit of the original while making the story accessible for a new audience -- we're having a hard time seeing 'Buffy' as a candidate for a do-over.

Unlike the original series of 'Star Trek,' which ended its first run in 1969 (not counting cameos in other incarnations and the spin-off film series from 1979-1991), the 'Buffy' franchise is still (comparatively) in its infancy, with the show reaching its conclusion in 2003 with season 7. And the characters continued fighting the good fight in an ongoing, Whedon-sanctioned comic book version of season 8 that shows no sign of ending in the foreseeable future.

In short, to use a Buffy-esque analogy, the body is still warm, and if fans want their 'Buffy' fix, they only need pick up a copy of the comics to catch up with their favorite members of the Scooby gang.

Joss Whedon weighed in on the movie announcement via E!Online, with a typically sardonic response that only cemented our certainty that a 'Buffy' project without him would be 100 percent less awesome:

"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."

We're with you, Joss.



There's an old adage that rings particularly true here: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The 'Buffy' TV series is widely hailed as one of the best shows ever, with Empire magazine ranking it as No. 2 on their all-time TV list (behind 'The Simpsons' and ahead of 'The Sopranos') while TV Guide ranked it third on their countdown of top 25 cult TV shows, coming in behind only 'Star Trek' and 'The X-Files'.

We're not saying that the show was perfect, by any means -- plenty of fans look back on the introduction of Buffy's "sister" Dawn as a surefire sign that the show had jumped the shark in season 5, and that was before Willow's magic addiction and the introduction of the slayer army -- but it was consistently one of the most witty, heartfelt and gripping series on television in the late '90s and early '00s, with a kickass female role model that empowered a generation of young women, and one of the strongest ensemble casts ever to grace our screens.

And another thing: it should go without saying at this point, but Sarah Michelle Gellar is Buffy Summers. Accept no imitations. The woman embodied Buffy for 144 episodes, and her likeness is still alive and staking in the comic books. Call us stubborn if you want, but we're not buying anyone but SMG beneath those awesome leather jackets and the killer heels that Buffy always managed to slay in.

Before Bella was pining over Edward or Sookie was whining about Bill, Buffy was having star-crossed romances with not one, but two hunky and tragic vampire boyfriends -- and she wasn't afraid to kick their asses when she needed to. Before 'Buffy,' vampires weren't cool, and they certainly weren't the stars of billion-dollar movie franchises or the objects of every teenage girl's bad-boy fantasy. Let's face it, without 'Buffy,' there would be no 'Vampire Diaries,' no 'True Blood,' no 'Twilight' (although many of us might've been relieved about that last one).

That cultural relevance and iconic status seems to be the rationale behind rebooting the franchise now, and certainly, we can see the theoretical sense in Warner Bros. wanting to capitalize on the cultural zeitgeist while audiences are still hopped up on 'Twilight' juice.

But how has this travesty of Hellmouth-sized proportions come to be, you ask? As Whedon pointed out in his snarktastic response to the news, he unfortunately has no legal grounds for stopping the new movie, since the original film's director, Fran Rubel Kuzui, and her husband Kaz Kuzui, held onto the rights after discovering Whedon's screenplay and financing the 1992 cheesefest. Because of this, Warner Bros. was free to option the rights from Kuzui for production, opting to go ahead with the project without the Jossmeister's blessing, and my first reaction is to wish a plague on all their houses, if we want to get Shakespearian about the whole thing. (Not that I'm bitter, no siree.)



Charles Roven, who will be co-producing the movie under his Atlas Entertainment banner, told the Times that he saw something "special" in Whit Anderson's script:

"Generally, I wouldn't have said, 'Let's revive this,' but Whit's take is pretty compelling and a lot of fun, and it's interesting to see all of this reimagined. This is a completely new reboot ... It needs to be relevant to today too, and that is what Whit has found a way to do." Do we buy it, gang? I'm not so sure -- as noted, 'Buffy' ended in 2003, so it's not as if we're talking about dragging 'Wonder Woman' back from the '70s and trying to give her a fresh spin; Buffy Summers was always tapped in to the millennial mindset.

Roven added, "There is an active fan base eagerly awaiting this character's return. ... While this is not your high-school Buffy, she'll be just as witty, tough and sexy as we all remember her to be."

The problem Roven doesn't seem to have taken into account, however, is that the show's "active fan base" fell in love with Joss Whedon's interpretation of the character for a reason, and any attempt to pursue a reboot without him is likely to be met with nothing short of horrified indignation -- one peek at Twitter on Monday afternoon was proof enough of that. Here's a small sample of the responses to the news that appeared on my feed:

MaryZaa: No Joss = No Buffy! This man made the show what it became - truly epic!

raelee514: Buffy without Joss is just... not Buffy.

SometimesTheAce: Things from the 90s that shouldn't be rehashed: union flag dresses, blonde curtain fringes and BUFFY!!

Harper47: I'm finding it hard to even articulate why I'm so angry. What gives [the writer] the chutzpah to think she can better this?

SharkGoddess: Just because the writer is a huge fan doesn't mean they're the heart, mind & soul of "Buffy". Is WB trying to save money by going with this writer & not with Joss Whedon? What is it they hope to achieve?

katelinnea: Why I'm skeptical of the new Buffy: The #1 thing I love about the show is the writing.

Cynics may argue that Whedon was responsible for writing the 1992 'Buffy' movie, which ... kinda sucked, in all honesty, and bore little resemblance to what would eventually end up on our TV screens in 1997.



But I have a comeback for that, too, bloodsuckers! Though it's true that Whedon penned a script for the movie, and his name was sadly associated with the final product, the writer/director has since (wisely) tried to distance himself from the project, admitting that the finished film didn't quite turn out the way he'd envisioned it, and apparently underwent some changes after the script left his hands.

"That character had been brewing in me for many years. I finally sat down and had written it and somebody had made it into a movie, and I felt like -- well, that's not quite her. It's a start, but it's not quite the girl ... My original idea was a lot less silly. It had funny, but it was a much more serious action horror movie with the funny. Actually it was pretty gross, too. It wasn't just straight on comedy, but that's how the film came off," he told Dark Horse comics in 2001.



What do you think of the announcement of a 'Buffy' movie (or future TV series) without Joss Whedon? Do you still plan to watch it, or does the idea scare you more than a make-out session with The Master? Share your thoughts below!

Follow Laura on Twitter: @LauinLA.


Amendment: Giselle Loren voiced Buffy Summers in the spin-off video games, not Sarah Michelle Gellar as was previously written. And she clearly did a fabulous job, since she sure fooled me!