Buffy revival cancelled by Hulu executive who never liked the original show
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Untitled Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reboot Project
Nathanred — 1 week ago(March 25, 2026 03:47 PM)
Chloé Zhao was directing and Sarah Michelle Gellar joined the project after years of Zhao convincing her to, only for the project to be cancelled after a pilot had already been shot. Hulu thought the pilot didn't appeal to adults that may have watched the original so they ordered a rewrite. It was supposedly well received and the expectation was it would be put into production, but then Hulu unexpectedly passed on the whole project.
Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed the cancellation in an Instagram post and later explained that one of the main people at Hulu involved in the project, likely Craig Erwich, would constantly put down the show and claim he never liked the original series. No official reason has been given for Hulu's decision to end production but he is probably the reason why.
https://deadline.com/2026/03/buffy-inside-story-reboot-killed-why-sarah-michelle-gellar-1236757372/
In her People interview, Gellar singled out one executive. “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,” she said. “That’s very hard when you’re taking a property that is as beloved as Buffy, not just to the world, but to me and Chloé. So that tells you the uphill battle that we had been fighting since day one, when your executive is literally proud to tell you that he didn’t watch it.”
Gellar did not name the person; according to multiple sources, the executive Gellar was referring to is Erwich.
It is unclear what exactly Erwich meant by his comments, with some suggesting he was referring to the fact that he wasn’t the demo for the series when he said that it “wasn’t for him.” (Still, those involved in the reboot agreed with Gellar’s general assessment of his take on the show.)
What is known is that Erwich made the decision not to proceed with the pilot. The reasons for the pass are fuzzy. Some say Hulu suggested that the rewritten version of the project was too expensive to shoot. Others indicate that it still fell short of the high bar set by the original series.
Sarah Michelle Gellar's announcement on Instagram:
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