Sarah Michelle Gellar has returned to the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to develop a new series alongside Eternals and Hamnet director Chloé Zhao. Hulu has ordered a pilot for the show, but a full series order still hasn't been announced.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended with Sunnydale collapsing into the Hellmouth cavern. Buffy Summers saved the day and realised that the burden of being the one chosen Slayer was no longer on her shoulders, making it a (mostly) happy ending for the character.
Still, fans have been left to wonder how the upcoming sequel series, now confirmed by Gellar to be titled Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, will pick up where the original show ended. It's widely believed that the spotlight is going to shift to Buffy's daughter, played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong.
"It’s not a sequel, it’s not a reboot — it’s a continuation," Gellar confirms in the video below (via FearHQ.com), adding that New Sunnydale will address where Buffy "is now in this world and what is this world that Buffy lives in with her and without her."
She added, "So it’s not a reboot, it’s not picking up with all of the same characters right away. It is not like a sequel. That’s why the name was even important to me — Buffy: New Sunnydale. It’s Buffy, but it’s also something else."
Gellar went on to admit that she's had to eat her words about a potential Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival. "I never saw how and why it could be as good [as the original series]. I’m not trying to be better. I just want to hold and honor the memory and what we created," the actress shared.
"I know sometimes that memory is conflicted for people about how they’re supposed to feel about it, but a lot of people put their blood, sweat, and tears into making what I think is an incredibly great show, and I’m incredibly proud of it."
It was Zhao's passion for the project that was a game-changer for Gellar, revealing that they went back-and-forth for three years on what a new Buffy the Vampire series could look like.
As for where things stand with the series now, she said that they're "still working on that, why and how," noting, "I know this seems like it’s taking a long time, and it’s because unless we are sure that it is exactly what we set out to do and that it makes sense to do it, we don’t want to sell you the legacy by not. When I know it’s perfect, then it will be out there, but I won’t do it unless I know it can be that."
Nora Zuckerman and Lila Zuckerman are attached to write, showrun, and executive produce the pilot. Zhao is attached to direct and executive produce under her Book of Shadows production banner. Gellar executive produces with Gail Berman.
Fran Kuzui and Kaz Kuzui will executive produce through Suite B, while Dolly Parton will executive produce via Sandollar. 20th Television and Searchlight Television also produce, and Berman, the Kuzuis, and Parton were all executive producers on the original TV series.
A recent logline for Buffy the Vampire Slayer revealed that, "Nova, a 16-year-old bookworm, discovers she’s a vampire Slayer in a rebuilt Sunnydale, split between gritty Old Sunnydale and upscale New Sunnydale."
"During Vampire Weekend, a festival celebrating the town’s dark past, vampires Jack and Shirley emerge from a construction site, killing a teen and planning a ritual to raise a vampire army at the Cursed Circle," it concluded.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was released in 1992 as a feature film starring Kristy Swanson. Joss Whedon wrote that, and Fran Kuzui directed. Five years later, the franchise was rebooted for The WB with Gellar taking over the lead role. It ran for five seasons on that network and moved to UPN for the final two.
You can hear more from Gellar on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale in the player below.