Fox Television is very excited about the prospect of a new ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ but also want the public to know that this is a project that is in the extremely early stages of development. While attending the Television Critics Association’s annual press tour, Group chairman and CEO Gary Newman stressed:
“There’s actually no script to see. We’ve sat down with creators and had conversations with them about it. It’s a very exciting prospect. It’s fairly early. We haven’t pitched it to any possible licensees yet, all of that is still to come. We’re thrilled that Joss has engaged Monica [Owusu-Breen] who he worked with on one of his other series. She’s the person who is day to day on it. She has a great take on the show.”
Just weeks ago, word surfaced that Joss Whedon was revisiting perhaps his most famous creation with ‘Midnight, Texas’ creator Monica Owusu-Breen taking the reigns. The duo previously worked together on ABC’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’. Owusu-Breen previously worked as a producer on such series as ‘Charmed’ (the original), ‘Lost’, ‘Alias’, ‘Fringe’ and ‘Revolution’, so she is no stranger to epic genre projects. Original ‘Buffy’ executive producers Gail Berman, Fran Kazui and Kaz Kazui are back on board for the new series, along with Joe Earley.
One thing separating the new series from the old is that Whedon and Owusu-Breen are looking for an African American lead. Some are distressed at the very idea of a new Buffy Summers, but Owusu-Breen seems to share that perspective. As she said last week, “There is only one Buffy. One Xander, one Willow, Giles, Cordelia, Oz, Tara, Kendra, Faith, Spike, Angel … They can’t be replaced. Joss Whedon’s brilliant and beautiful series can’t be replicated. I wouldn’t try to. But here we are, 20 years later … and the world seems a lot scarier. So maybe, it could be time to meet a new Slayer … And that’s all I can say.”
It was clearly established in the original series that there were multiple slayers living around the world, all fighting the same fight against the forces of darkness. It would be simple to just make a new show about one of them, but so far, the new series is being referred to as “BUFFY the Vampire Slayer’ so it remains to be seen how they manage to revisit this concept without trying to reinvent the wheel.
But as Newman expressed, this project is far from seeing the light of day. Check back to see how things progress!
Source: Deadline
