Fans of Joss Whedon, prepare to cry: producer Charles Roven (12 Monkeys, The Dark Knight) is actively rebooting the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer for Warner Bros. with no connection to the TV version.
In a funky press release, Roven's Atlas Entertainment declares that they made a deal with rights owners including original director Fran Rubel Kuzui and Dolly Parton(!), mysteriously lists Kuzui as Buffy's creator (O Whedon, where art thou?), and announces the screenwriter as Whit Anderson, who to my knowledge has no credits to speak of.
"Whit approached us with an exciting idea about how to update Buffy," said Roven. "There is an active fan base eagerly awaiting this character's return to the big screen. Details of the film are being kept under wraps, but I can say while this is not your high school Buffy, she'll be just as witty, tough, and sexy as we all remember her to be."
In a concurrent LA Times piece, Anderson (who I'd like to imagine is the miracle lovechild of directors Whit Stillman and Wes Anderson) says what made Buffy special to her was "the deep struggle she had with duty and destiny, that tug between what you're supposed to be doing and what you want to be doing. The fate of the world is on her shoulders but some days she wakes up and she just doesn't want to do it. And are we doomed and destined to love someone? That conflict was very interesting to me."
No confirmation on who will direct this third incarnation of something called Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but while we're waiting for it to slowly shimmy it's way through the Hollywood development digestive system, let's enjoy the trailer for the original, shall we?
