Rumor: Joss Whedon Turned Down Buffy Reboot

[Azuaron]

Seeing as I'm among the people who enjoyed the movie but disliked the series, I'm not entirely put off by this little project. In spite of me being appreciative of a lack of Joss Whedon, it's still a reboot of a movie that didn't need a reboot.

In retrospect, I'd rather Mr. Whedon tackle this and leave The Avengers to someone more appropriate.

Someone more appropriate, like, say, someone who wrote the Astonishing X-Men which is one of Marvel's best selling comic lines and won a number of Eisner Awards? How about someone who won the Nebula award for best script? Or Hugo awards? Would someone with those credentials be more appropriate?

Oh wait. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joss_Whedon]

 

[Lord Beautiful]

Seeing as I'm among the people who enjoyed the movie but disliked the series, I'm not entirely put off by this little project. In spite of me being appreciative of a lack of Joss Whedon, it's still a reboot of a movie that didn't need a reboot.

In retrospect, I'd rather Mr. Whedon tackle this and leave The Avengers to someone more appropriate.

Someone more appropriate, like, say, someone who wrote the Astonishing X-Men which is one of Marvel's best selling comic lines and won a number of Eisner Awards? How about someone who won the Nebula award for best script? Or Hugo awards? Would someone with those credentials be more appropriate?

Oh wait. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joss_Whedon]

Perhaps I should clarify. I'm not doubting his writing skills so much as his ability as a director.

 

[Gitty101]

Reboots are a waste of time and money, 90% of the time the original is far superior. How about you see if he's interested in rebooting firefly instead?

I don't think he'd be into rebooting it, maybe continuing it if he could get the actors back, but that's unlikely.

Killing Firefly is one crime I'll never forgive Fox for, it rates higher on my shit list then anything Fox News has ever done, and that's saying something.

You and me both, Firefly was great and FOX just killed it for no reason.

 

[Azuaron]

Seeing as I'm among the people who enjoyed the movie but disliked the series, I'm not entirely put off by this little project. In spite of me being appreciative of a lack of Joss Whedon, it's still a reboot of a movie that didn't need a reboot.

In retrospect, I'd rather Mr. Whedon tackle this and leave The Avengers to someone more appropriate.

Someone more appropriate, like, say, someone who wrote the Astonishing X-Men which is one of Marvel's best selling comic lines and won a number of Eisner Awards? How about someone who won the Nebula award for best script? Or Hugo awards? Would someone with those credentials be more appropriate?

Oh wait. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joss_Whedon]

Perhaps I should clarify. I'm not doubting his writing skills so much as his ability as a director.

Watch the finale of Buffy and Serenity to see how his skills have matured and grown as a director - the final series of fights in Serenity are amazing.

This. Watching early Buffy (and even early Angel) is often a painful exercise because of the poor acting/directing. His more recent work is quite good, though I haven't seen anything he's directed that wasn't his own creation, so I'm not sure how well he'll keep words like "listy" out of the movie (apparently, he just talks like that).

 

[malestrithe]

You and me both, Firefly was great and FOX just killed it for no reason.

This nonsense again? Firefly was killed because of 2 things: Ratings and no executive was willing to back the show.

Firefly had low ratings. It got 1.4 in the nielson rating consistently. I know that is hard to grasp, but we live in an age where ratings are key because it generates ad revenue and it can offset the inital investment the corporation made for the show. Firefly failed because of ratings, but guess what: 90 percent of new shows fail because the audience was not there to support it.

The other thing is that there was no executive willing to stand up for the show in any meaningful way. Back in the 80s and early 90s, a ton of shows that had abyssmal ratings were saved because a network executive staked his reputation to keep them going. Night Court, Seinfeld, Dollhouse, and Home Improvement were saved by network executives, but that is a tip of the ice berg. Hell, Brandon Tartikoff, the Ceo of NBC until his death personally saved dozens of shows that he believed in. Dirty little secret: The Simpsons get reneved every year not because of ratings, but because Rupert Murdoch loves the show, for the billions the show made him in the last 20+ years.

We do not live in that age anymore. The show has to have good enough ratings in its first 4 episodes or else it gets shitcanned. Firefly was not the exception just because you wished it so.

Now, they may not be good reasons for you, but they are reasons.

I really wish that Whedon fans would focus the anger towards themselves because that is the fuel of the anger. They did not watch the show when it was new, and that was not the fault of the network no matter what you say. They did not market it correctly you say? Well, SciFi did market it correctly when Firefly was on its network and no one watched it.

Also, the evil Fox corporation put the thing on DVD. Because of that, they created this whole outrage leveled against them.

 

[DaxStrife]

I see two scenarios here:
1) The producers never contacted Whedon, he found out and insulted them on the 'net, so to deflect criticism they're making this up.
2) The producers tried to get Whedon on board, but he declined. Can't say I blame him: "Hey, we've brought your beloved creation back to life as a kind of shambling monstrosity, would you mind holding its leash and taking it for a walk?"

 

[PureIrony]

Good for him. A writer should stick by his original work, not attempt to restart everything whenever Hollywood comes a-knocking.

 

[Irridium]

Whedon probably thought that they scrapped it after they asked him. Could be why the announcement surprised him.

Either way, if Whedon, the creator of it all, doesn't see much good a reboot, thats a sign that you should, you know, stop.

 

[Silver Patriot]

I bet he's to busy with the follow up to Dr. Horrible. Though I heard he took an interest in some superhero thing. Avengers or something.

 

[ExileNZ]

Let's be honest, the Buffy series was, by his own admission, Whedon's baby. Any other reboot of Buffy is just going to be that - a reboot of Buffy. No need to say more, really.

And hey, Avengers!

(says the guy who can't even remember who's in it but will probably watch it just for Joss' input)

 

[littlewisp]

Why doens't someone throw some money at him to reboot Firefly.

Or better yet, to just make more seasons!

I would shell out plenty of money for new firefly stuff. Plenty. I would support that franchise through hell and back.

 

[Vzzdak]

The producers should get Whedon started on Season 8 of his previous Buffy series, though perhaps tweak the branding to, "Buffy and the Vampire Slayers."

 

[airrazor7]

I definitely don't fault the guy for picking The Avengers over Buffy. If done well, Avengers could be epic and instead of producers scoffing at him as they sometimes do, they will be begging for his talents.