Buffy TVS to be (ugh) Rebooted

[Admiral_Young]

^Exactly.

[Ethros]

Isn't that the point of a remake though? That someone takes someone else's work and reinterprets it. Yes it may not be their original idea but the new one should be "their vision of it"

Otherwise why not just get the original director of The Fly 1958 to direct the 1986 remake (yeah I know he died in 1958, but just saying) rather than having David Cronenberg take a shot at doing his version of it.


Can't believe I'm backing a Joss-less Buffy, but just making the point

[Chemahkuu]

Exactly, it's a reboot, different universe, different story.

[Admiral_Young]

Again...if their intent was to somehow make an epic remake of "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" that was not on the cheap and involved high profile talent then maybe I would be more open to the process. The fact that they went and hired an "actress" with no writing experience whatsoever shows me they don't really care about the fans that much and just want to cash in on the current vampire craze. I looked Whit Anderson up on IMDB and she has three roles in unknown films or something like that. To me this suggests a lack of real effort on the part of the movie right holders to do anything really significant. To a lot of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" fans a remake without Joss Whedon done "cheaply" simply doesn't mean anything. Never mind one done "right". I'm just saying that if genuine effort was put into it other than being an obvious cash cow then I might be more open minded and accepting of it.

I never thought posting that article would open up a whole new debate about this because from all indications this thing is dead.

[Chemahkuu]

Buffy hasn't been on the air for nearly a decade, the fanbase spends it's time rewatching the same DVD's and tapes until they know the epiodes backwards to an unheathly degree. No one in the larger world really knows or cares about the show anymore, and the full rights to the show never belonged to Joss anyway.

I belonged to Buffy Boards for a few years, and that lot are crazier than us, I simply left because of their inanity, if they're the only ones that care or are vocal about a reboot, then screw them, they count for nothing.

[Admiral_Young]

Crazier than us you say? I find that hard to believe Then again I never frequented the Buffy boards during the show or currently. I'm enjoying the comic continuation of the show so it's alive and well where I'm concerned. I understand they're not for everyone out there either. Another thing is I just don't know if this project actually came to fruition what kind of a box office response there would be. The first one was a bomb IIRC and is considered something of a cult classic by Buffy fans...depending on the material of this particular project I'm not sure an audience would be there to be honest.

[DevilEyes]

Chemahkuu wrote:

---

Buffy hasn't been on the air for nearly a decade, the fanbase spends it's time rewatching the same DVD's and tapes until they know the epiodes backwards to an unheathly degree. No one in the larger world really knows or cares about the show anymore, and the full rights to the show never belonged to Joss anyway.

I belonged to Buffy Boards for a few years, and that lot are crazier than us, I simply left because of their inanity, if they're the only ones that care or are vocal about a reboot, then screw them, they count for nothing.

Well the fandom I belong to is reading the comics and having all sorts of crazy speculations about the upcoming issues as soon as new solicitations or covers are released or someone from Dark Horse does an interview or Q&A. Sure it's just a fraction of the TV audience, but they're canon and the story is still going.

I'm not sure what the "larger world" is. It's not like there's any show or movie that's beloved by everyone in the world.

Never been to the Buffy Boards, but Buffyforums are pretty crazy, I'm also a member of Slayalive where all the Q&As take place, and there's also Whedonesque and the discussions on Livejournal.

[Ian Keldon]

Chemahkuu wrote:

---

There is nothing to "get". Joss created his own interpretation of the story, any half talented director can make his or her own, and will.

Wrong. Joss was the one who made it work. It was his vision that became popular, not that of the director that butchered his original script for the film.

Buffy was and is Joss' "baby". He knows how to make it work. Other so-called producers apparently don't.

Posted by: Chemahkuu

Buffy hasn't been on the air for nearly a decade, the fanbase spends it's time rewatching the same DVD's and tapes until they know the epiodes backwards to an unheathly degree. No one in the larger world really knows or cares about the show anymore, and the full rights to the show never belonged to Joss anyway.

I belonged to Buffy Boards for a few years, and that lot are crazier than us, I simply left because of their inanity, if they're the only ones that care or are vocal about a reboot, then screw them, they count for nothing.

Congratualtions, you're a "fandom bigot". As a Trek fan you should have more empathy for other fandoms than that.

[wamdue]

ElfEars wrote:

---

So can any fanfic writer. Doesn't mean it's equally valid as Joss's, who didn't just create "his own interpretation of the story" - he created the story in the first place.

I am not keen on seeing a Buffy remake, but isnt that what happens with every single Superman property, be it a new comic, a movie or TV series, a new and slightly different take on the character and his world. Lets not pretend that Superman has not evolved over time. For example Kryptonite was introduced in a radio series 5 years after the first comic, and obviously is a very big part of Supermans history. Each retelling taking from the last, then adding something new.

The point is just because Joss created Buffy, does not mean, his take on the character is the only valid one.

I think the basic elements of the Buffyverse, are just fine for a similar rebooting, yeah ok I would stick to the vampire, slayer and watchers council element to the story, possibly even ditching Sunnydale completely.

[Kelthaz]

Chemahkuu wrote:

---

There is nothing to "get". Joss created his own interpretation of the story, any half talented director can make his or her own, and will.

Not really, no. Joss didn't just create a Buffy show; he is Buffy.

To use an example from your avatar, it'd be like if some shitty developer like Ubisoft decided to take Sonic away from Sega and create a cheap, crappy Sonic game on the Saturn because Sega never got around to it.

[stonester1]

I'm normally open minded about remakes. I will take to a remake, provided it is well done. I'm a fan of the original BSG, LOVED RDM's take, await Blood and Chrome, and also look forward to Singer's more "faithful" version.

Trek fan from WAY back, and LOVED JJ Abram's film.

My trouble with this (now thankfully dead) Buffy product is this. We know what on the cheap Buffy looks like. We have the first film. It was Joss' series and his wonderful toolbox of amazing supporting characters and layered storytelling that gave that franchise any real value.

Now...If I thought TPTB cared about the franchise and were going to do their best to give us a story worthy of the franchise and the fans, now and in the future, I'd excited. When I heard of the possible David Yates Doctor Who film, I was and am excited, despite the idea that it will be it's own continuity. It sounded like they still want to take what makes Who unique and craft a good story out of it, with people who care and know how to tell stories.

I got no such vibe from this "Buffy" project.

DOA, and deservedly so.

[Chemahkuu]

Kelthaz wrote:

---

Not really, no. Joss didn't just create a Buffy show; he is Buffy.

That's weird, in the movie and series I have on DVD 'she' is a petite blonde woman.

[DevilEyes]

wamdue wrote:

---

I think the basic elements of the Buffyverse, are just fine for a similar rebooting, yeah ok I would stick to the vampire, slayer and watchers council element to the story, possibly even ditching Sunnydale completely.

What I don't is, why do they have to call it Buffy? It's very unlikely that the character would be like the Buffy we know, created by Joss, it would just be another girl who's a Slayer. Just keep the basic mythology and call it something like Mandy, the Vampire Slayer that makes it clear you aren't pretending that it's the same character, but is clear enough reference to BtVS, and people would be much more OK with it, I'm sure.

Chemahkuu wrote:

---

That's weird, in the movie and series I have on DVD 'she' is a petite blonde woman.

Well, appearances can be deceiving...

http://pmnewton.blogspot.com/2010/08...ark-place.html

In a chat – it was too relaxed to be called a speech – he shared with the audience the discoveries he had made in thinking about why he writes what he writes and who he writes about. He recalled a starting point came about during a conversation with Stephen Sondheim about writing and about what their universal themes were. Whedon said that he always ended up writing about adolescent young girls with super powers. Sondheim said that his own writing would always be about yearning.


Whedon decided he needed to think somewhat more deeply about what he wrote – young adolescent girls with superpowers – and work out – why?


This took him back to his childhood which, he has to confess was boringly normal, a father he feared disappointing, elder brothers who teased him, certainly no grist for the horror memoir mill. But nevertheless he was physically a small child, curly haired and often mistaken for a little girl, who felt afraid and helpless.


So perhaps it was no coincidence that the characters he ended up writing were, on the surface, similarly small and helpless. He says he grew up feeling scared and alone, not scared and lonely, but scared and alone. Not all bad, he points out, as writers who wish to write should probably love being alone.


So, he asked, “Why is my avatar a female? Am I a literary transvestite? Why do I identify with these girls?”


The revelation, when it came, surprised him. For the 7 years he wrote Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, he identified with Xander, funny, clueless and never getting laid. Then when he was writing an extended piece of prose about a Buffy-type character, a first person narrative, it struck him that he was bucketing therapy on to the page. Only then did he finally see it – “Buffy was me.”

[Chemahkuu]

Well either way, we'll see when the movie comes out and any possible new show starts, sans Joss and his clique.

[Ethros]

Just to add, I'm not 100% against the idea of a remake/reboot, but I just think its too soon. I mean when was this first announced, 2009? It had only been off the air 6 years

RDM's reboot of BSG came out in 2003, and when was that last on, 1980 I guess with that awful Galactica 1980. So that's 23 years, fair enough.

You could say the same for JJ's Star Trek, sure ENT only ended in 2005, but it was basically a reboot of TOS the TV show, which ended in 1969. That's 40 years

But six years? That's why I thought it was dumb. Same reason I didn't get why rumours of Bryan Singer's BSG reboot started floating around again like a week after nuBSG ended