By: Romeo Mora
It seems like every movie studio loves to reboot beloved franchises and bastardize the collective childhood memories of diehard fans. In the past few years Batman, James Bond and Star Trek reboots have flooded multiplexes. No one can blame studios for making an easy buck. And, thanks to "Twilight" and the ensuing vampire craze, greedy producers now have their sights set on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fran Rubel Kuzui, director of the original 1992 Buffy film, and her husband Kaz Kuzui are planning to release a remake by 2012 without the involvement of "Buffy" creator Joss Whedon. The article makes it clear that the movie will not incorporate the original supporting characters or feature the mythology of the series.
For those who are not familiar with Whedon, he wrote the original movie script and managed to resurrect the box office failure into a successful and critically acclaimed primetime series that resulted in the spin off, "Angel." He created a world win which vampires and monsters are metaphors for growing up. His work was well received by the world of academia and several scholarly articles about the series dealing with themes such as gender roles and violence have been published. So, what's the big deal?
Imagine some yuppie movie executive picking up a copy of "Star Wars" and deciding to keep Luke Skywalker, now played by Justin Bieber, while getting rid of Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess Laia, and combining C-3PO and RD-D2 into a disembodied voice coming from a iPhone 4.
The major obstacle this "Buffy" remake faces is the backlash for not including Whedon in the process and purposely ignoring key elements from the popular television series. As they are prepping the movie, Whedon has been writing about Buffy in comic book format, which continues the story of the TV series. It's hard to understand why the built-in audience that producers hope to engage would want to subject themselves to such water-down version of Buffy. It does not have to be a carbon copy, but if the essential canon and characters of the series were kept and tweaked for a modern audience, similar to J.J. Abrams's 2009 re-imagining of "Star Trek," then it could be successful.
The Kuzuis need to fix a few things before hardcore Buffy fans begin to entertain the idea of watching the film. First, Buffy needs her friends. The supporting characters allow for Buffy to be grounded in the real world, therefore allowing her to deal with mundane, everyday problems that make her relatable to the audience. In addition, Kuzui needs to capture the spirit of Whedon's writing style and incorporate the language and mythology. "Buffy" was known for its witty dialogue infused with pop culture references and its abuse of the English language. Also, Whedon cleverly use its mythology to demonstrate that high school was literally hell, and you don't have to be a slayer to survive it. It's a message that has become more important during a rise of bullying in schools. Without these elements, Buffy is forced to devolve into a blonde valley girl without depth.
When it comes down to it, all producers want to do is preserve the warm memories of fans than drive a wooden stake through their heart and steal the cash. Regardless of what fans want, the Kuzuis have a script in hand and are planning for a 2012 release. And, being the sucker that I am, I will be standing in line during the opening weekend. I know. I'm a sucker.
Whedon himself best expressed the frustration and annoyance regarding this remake when he replied to E! reporter Kristen Dos Santos in an e-mail.
"This is a sad, sad reflection on our times, when people must feed off the carcasses of beloved stories from their youths-just because they can't think of an original idea of their own, like I did with my Avengers idea that I made up myself. I always hoped that Buffy would live on even after my death. But, you know, AFTER. I don't love the idea of my creation in other hands, but I'm also well aware that many more hands than mine went into making that show what it was. And there is no legal grounds for doing anything other than sighing audibly. I can't wish people who are passionate about my little myth ill."
csusignal.com
It seems like every movie studio loves to reboot beloved franchises and bastardize the collective childhood memories of diehard fans. In the past few years Batman, James Bond and Star Trek reboots have flooded multiplexes. No one can blame studios for making an easy buck. And, thanks to "Twilight" and the ensuing vampire craze, greedy producers now have their sights set on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fran Rubel Kuzui, director of the original 1992 Buffy film, and her husband Kaz Kuzui are planning to release a remake by 2012 without the involvement of "Buffy" creator Joss Whedon. The article makes it clear that the movie will not incorporate the original supporting characters or feature the mythology of the series.
For those who are not familiar with Whedon, he wrote the original movie script and managed to resurrect the box office failure into a successful and critically acclaimed primetime series that resulted in the spin off, "Angel." He created a world win which vampires and monsters are metaphors for growing up. His work was well received by the world of academia and several scholarly articles about the series dealing with themes such as gender roles and violence have been published. So, what's the big deal?
Imagine some yuppie movie executive picking up a copy of "Star Wars" and deciding to keep Luke Skywalker, now played by Justin Bieber, while getting rid of Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess Laia, and combining C-3PO and RD-D2 into a disembodied voice coming from a iPhone 4.
The major obstacle this "Buffy" remake faces is the backlash for not including Whedon in the process and purposely ignoring key elements from the popular television series. As they are prepping the movie, Whedon has been writing about Buffy in comic book format, which continues the story of the TV series. It's hard to understand why the built-in audience that producers hope to engage would want to subject themselves to such water-down version of Buffy. It does not have to be a carbon copy, but if the essential canon and characters of the series were kept and tweaked for a modern audience, similar to J.J. Abrams's 2009 re-imagining of "Star Trek," then it could be successful.
The Kuzuis need to fix a few things before hardcore Buffy fans begin to entertain the idea of watching the film. First, Buffy needs her friends. The supporting characters allow for Buffy to be grounded in the real world, therefore allowing her to deal with mundane, everyday problems that make her relatable to the audience. In addition, Kuzui needs to capture the spirit of Whedon's writing style and incorporate the language and mythology. "Buffy" was known for its witty dialogue infused with pop culture references and its abuse of the English language. Also, Whedon cleverly use its mythology to demonstrate that high school was literally hell, and you don't have to be a slayer to survive it. It's a message that has become more important during a rise of bullying in schools. Without these elements, Buffy is forced to devolve into a blonde valley girl without depth.
When it comes down to it, all producers want to do is preserve the warm memories of fans than drive a wooden stake through their heart and steal the cash. Regardless of what fans want, the Kuzuis have a script in hand and are planning for a 2012 release. And, being the sucker that I am, I will be standing in line during the opening weekend. I know. I'm a sucker.
Whedon himself best expressed the frustration and annoyance regarding this remake when he replied to E! reporter Kristen Dos Santos in an e-mail.
"This is a sad, sad reflection on our times, when people must feed off the carcasses of beloved stories from their youths-just because they can't think of an original idea of their own, like I did with my Avengers idea that I made up myself. I always hoped that Buffy would live on even after my death. But, you know, AFTER. I don't love the idea of my creation in other hands, but I'm also well aware that many more hands than mine went into making that show what it was. And there is no legal grounds for doing anything other than sighing audibly. I can't wish people who are passionate about my little myth ill."
csusignal.com
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