Sarah Michelle Gellar is still shocked that Hulu won’t move forward with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot, but she’s opened up about why it was canceled.
On Sunday, Geller told People that she received the call with the news just before she was to take the stage at the SXSW Film Festival for the premiere of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come on Friday, March 11.
“I’m telling you, none of us expected this to happen,” she said, exclaiming the irony of the timing of the news. “Nobody saw this coming, including the heads of Searchlight. I got the call as we were on stage at the premiere of our movie. And it’s also the weekend Chloe[Chao]heads to the Oscars as a Best Director nominee for Hamnet. To get a call from them on a Friday when Chloe was supposed to be taking a victory lap on a great movie, and the world premiere of something I worked so hard for…that’s saying something.”
Searchlight is producing both “Ready or Not 2” and the new “Buffy” reboot for Hulu. Geller, who played Buffy Summers on the WB series for seven seasons, said there was one executive who killed off the New Sunnydale reboot, which was led by Ryan Keira Armstrong as the new hitman.
“We had an executive on our show who not only wasn’t a fan of the original, he’d never seen the entire series, and he took pride in constantly reminding us how it didn’t sit well with him,” she said. “It’s very difficult to acquire a property like Buffy that is loved not only around the world, but also for me and Chloe. So it speaks to the uphill battle that we’ve been fighting since day one. An executive at your company is literally proud to tell you he wasn’t looking.”
Appeared at the premiere screening of “Ready or Not 2” at the SXSW TV & Film Festival.
Steven Olker/SXSW Conference & Festival
Geller shared the sad news on Instagram Saturday morning. The next night, Chao told Variety and CNN that she was “not surprised” the show was canceled.
“I had an incredible time with Sarah[Michelle Gellar]along with all the cast and crew, and we consider ourselves first and foremost guardians of the original show,” she said on the Oscars red carpet. “For Sarah and for us, it has always been a priority to be true to the show and to our fans. So things happen for a reason, and we’ll be open-minded and welcome mystery and see where this takes us.”
Geller added that they both feel “disappointed” and are worried about disappointing their fans. “It hurt. I’m sad about how and when it was handled,” she said. “But ‘Buffy’ is timeless. And I want all these fans to know, the legacy still exists and this doesn’t diminish it. It doesn’t change that. That legacy still exists – for them.”
