Earlier this week, the news broke that Hulu had decided not to move forward with its Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel series despite the pilot already being shot by Eternals director Chloé Zhao.
The announcement came as a shock to fans of the beloved original series who were looking forward to seeing Sarah Michelle Gellar back in action as "The Chosen One," even if it would have been in a reduced capacity.
The show, which was titled "New Sunnydale," was set to feature Gellar as Buffy Summers, but would have primarily focused on a new teenage Slayer played by Star Wars: Skeleton Crew breakout Ryan Kiera Armstrong.
At the time, Gellar blamed an unnamed executive (since confirmed to be Craig Erwich) for the cancellation.
“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. 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.”
The trades have since weighed in, but many have dismissed these reports as "hit pieces" on Zhao
"Two sources told Variety that, despite her love of the original series, Zhao proved to be a mismatch for Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale. Those sources say that Zhao’s prodigious skills as a director didn’t lend themselves to a television pilot that requires a lot of exposition. It was undershot, and there wasn’t any coverage, one source said, so there would have had to be reshoots on the pilot anyway. The performances from the actors playing the new characters, who need to make a strong impression as they’re introduced, were under-directed, the sources said. That Armstrong, the new Slayer, has a very young appearance — she turned 16 on March 10 — contributed to the whole enterprise playing too young."
Like most things, the truth of what actually happened probably lies somewhere in the middle. In any case, Gellar has now urged fans not to read the leaked script that's doing the rounds, or watch the pilot if that eventually finds its way online.
During an appearance on Page Six’s P6 Radio show on Wednesday, hosts Danny Murphy and Evan Real told Gellar that they hope the pilot leaks so fans can see what the show was like for themselves.
“I actually hope it doesn’t,” Gellar responded. “Because then everyone’s going to have an opinion on this and that, and pilots are not finished. It wasn’t done, right? It’s not like we did a season and finished it and then they shelved it. It’s not like when they made Batgirl the movie, right, and then didn’t show it.”
“[We] made a pilot on purpose because there’s some new characters and there’s things you learn from it and there’s things you fix. Usually, a pilot doesn’t air in its entirety ever. It’s a learning tool. I mean, the original ‘Buffy’ pilot was nothing to do with the show. It was a different Willow, I mean it’s a very different show. But those are learning tools and that’s what a pilot is.”
Whether the full pilot ultimately leaks obviously remains to be seen, but a recent report did indicate that there may still be hope for New Sunnydale if another network decides to step in and pick up the series.