It's really too soon for the new(ish) network to be working on any new teleplays at this moment when they are still in the process of determining what their extended regular lineup will look like... Although this isn't great news, if they (CW) still aren't talking by the fall we should begin to see the writing on the wall...

Simpleba | April 12, 11:58 CET

Not really that dissapointed by this news, they've got a whole regular schedule to decide upon, and anyway, it seems to have been made pretty clear that the movie is being made for DVD, not to be aired on TV (at least not to premiere on TV).

Ghost Spike | April 12, 12:28 CET

Ghost Spike, I could not agree more. I'm not really getting why anyone is still linking the Spike movie to the CW. Quite honestly the future of the Buffyverse has absolutely nothing to do with the WB, for as long as it remains, and even less to do with the new network. How many times has it got to be said that this will be a direct to DVD project or not happen at all before people take it in.

The only other slight possibility I can see is that Joss will try to get the Spike movie onto a cable channel if the DVD venture fails. Sci Fi here in the UK has just bought Angel so why not a Spike movie on Sci Fi US? Not exactly impossible. No matter what though, there is next to zero chance of seeing it on the CW. In fact we will be lucky if they have the common sense to keep Veronica Mars.

Looking further down the article, the news isn't looking too bright for Conviction. Looks like JAR might be looking for new work soon.

RockManic | April 12, 13:20 CET

I think the folks fans need to be concerned about are 20th Century Fox (for production) and Fox Home Entertainment (for dvd release).

killinj | April 12, 16:36 CET

20th Century Fox could sell it to a different DVD house -- Paramount and Universal are experimenting with 'DVD Premieres' at the moment in particular.

gossi | April 12, 17:34 CET

Any word on if Veronica is getting picked up?

Dolphin Tamer | April 12, 19:10 CET

I tend to think the window of opportunity for this project has already passed. I can't say I'm too disappointed either. I'd rather leave things to my imagination with regards to what happened to both sets of characters from both shows after the respective finales. I know plenty of others would disagree, but that's how I feel.

Impossible | April 12, 19:45 CET

Aww....Ausiello never gives up.

spikeylover | April 12, 19:50 CET

Definately disagree, Impossible. To me, the Buffyverse is an epic story that deserves an actual end and one that has a real feel of closure to it. At the moment it feels very open ended to me and I think that is a shame. Image if Tolkien had ended the Lord of the Rings before the one ring had been destroyed. There needs to be a sense of finality, in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong. I thought that Chosen and Not Fade Away were incredible endings to Buffy and Angel as individual series but the Buffyverse as a whole needs more of a definate closure to it. Personally, I want to see something on film along the lines of the final battle as described in Fray. That would be a much better way to end the story overall. In the meantime though I still think that there is far too much potential for stories from the slayerverse to call it a day now.

One more weekly series (preferably not on a network channel), a few DVD movies and something on the big screen to end it all and send the Buffyverse off in the fashion it deserves. Sounds about right to me.

RockManic | April 12, 20:01 CET

Zip. Zero. Zilch. The big goose egg.

numbereleven | April 12, 20:11 CET

Yeah, I think its way too soon for the CW to even talk about that. They're just scrambling to figure out their regular schedule at the point.

Dolphin Tamer, Veronica Mars issue is still up in the air according to Enrico Colantoni. Supposedly they won't learn their fate till May because last year they were told really early and other UPN shows got really angry.

The complete interview with Enrico is here.

delirium_haze | April 12, 20:35 CET

There needs to be a sense of finality, in my opinion.

I so completely and utterly disagree. How can you 'end' Buffy? Have her die? Blergh. Heroes live forever (uhm, ish). I think the best thing about these shows is the lack of closure, the lack of feeling that things have come to an end - they then live in the imagination of the viewers.

My ideal ending for Buffy was always the gang, together, weapons in hand, fighting stupid odds, swinging, smashing and... The end. Which, of course, Angel delivered very well.

gossi | April 12, 22:08 CET

Agree that "closure" is unnecessary. And J.R.R. kinda highlights the pitfalls of attempting it - because LOTR, much as I love it, never ends, with at least four conclusions, and then appendices and family trees and on and on. Fine if you're recording history, not so great as literature. Personally, I don't want to know how many kids Buffy had, or whether Xander dies of emphesema at age 87. In the Whedonverse, the struggle continues.

Still and all, I'd welcome a Spike (or whoever) movie - but not from a need for finality, only from a need for more rollicking good stories.

SoddingNancyTribe | April 12, 22:39 CET

There really can't be closure on the Buffyverse, because there isn't a Buffyverse narrative to close on. Every major character has had their own narrative, their own set of issues, and they've been written/acted in ways that center on their stories.

We've had closure on Buffy and closure on Angel, as well as closure of a sort on characters who died. Any new series, if it's written as well (and in the same multiple-narrative structure) will open at least as many new narratives as it could possibly close.

Think of it as a giant Dostoevsky novel, OK?

MissKittysMom | April 12, 23:42 CET

I want more Buffyverse stuff. Flat out. And when I say Buffyverse I mean THAT UNIVERSE. I don't think Buffy is necessarily the biggest character of that universe. Obviously she is huge but I think Angel has a much more epic story as far as anything goes.

I think that James is too old to look like the Spike he has always been. If they made a Spike movie, I would want Spike to seem weathered and torn after years and years of being a vampire. Get a new hairdo as well as possible some new clothes. I mean that leather jacket that he wears now is from the Rome Wolfram and Hart branch....(can we make believe that the Girl in Question was just a dream sequence episode...no? It's canon? Oh.)

I thought his hair in the opening of season seven was cool....maybe not stick with that but I think we can have Spike look different and I think in order for that movie to work the look would need to change at least for some of it...or maybe not. The look is obviously his trademark...but whatever.

I feel like the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel mar the BEGINNINGS of HUGE ASS INTENSE stories that I would love to see happen. The final battle stuff as mentioned in Fray? Mmmm yes I want to see some of that. Maybe only a few entities of the scoobies are stil alive for it. I would like a sort of Next Generation type dealy and I think that if they did Feature Films with Buffyverse or any kind of anything that a Melaka Fray show should happen.

SoddingNancyTribe, Good Point about the LOTR stuff...that story does go on.....as do all stories..there is no closure or finality. I think that there is so much more for these characters to do and to see and I would like to see THAT.

Dolphin Tamer | April 12, 23:44 CET

I would like a sort of Next Generation type dealy

...Only if good creative people were involved, for me. For example, if Joss just put his name to a show produced by somebody we don't know, I'd freak out. And rightly so, I think. Joss hasn't tried to 'cash in' on this one, and it's something I thank him for.

The reason people love these characters is, frankly, due to a mixture of the creators and actors. A next generation thing, done badly, is an easy way to spoil a thousand memories.

Joss is away making movies for a good long time, I suspect. And I'm cool with that - I want to see what he can do with the silver screen. Give it 5 or 10 years and maybe things will have changed.

gossi | April 12, 23:49 CET

I think you guys may be misunderstanding what I mean by closure. Obviously the Buffyverse is too large a concept to ever end entirely, short of having the hellmouth open up and destroy the planet altogether, which some may consider slight overkill.

What I really want to see is something that seems like an end to an era, not a total end to Buffy or Angel themselves, or any of the other characters for that matter. To return to my Tolkien example again, as some have correctly stated, the destruction of the ring did not end the stories of Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn or many of the other characters. In fact, as any Tolkien fan knows, there was much more to their individual tales. However, the Lord of the Rings' central story does culminate with an end to an era, that era being the Third Age.

This is the reason I suggested the events mentioned in Fray as being an appropriate place to end the story of the current era of Buffyverse action. The final battle that results in demonkind being banished from the earth for hundreds of years would seem to be an ideal place to say goodbye to Buffy, Angel, Spike and any of the others who survived to the end. At least then you could accept that the main story had come to an end, even knowing that the characters remaining would go on to new lives.

I guess I'm just not one of those people happy to leave things open and let the story continue in the various imaginations of the viewers. I want to see exactly how Joss envisions things happening, not how I might imagine it to be. I think that if there had only been BtVS and events had ended with Chosen then that might, and I do mean might, have been enough for me, but because there was another part of the story going on over in Angel and season five of that show also managed to continue the events of the Scoobies (even if only in what we heard through Andrew), it just feels like there needs to be a final epic event for everyone involved to really make it seem like things are done.

What can I say? I like a story to have a proper beginning, middle and end. Always have. Not Fade Away was one mighty hour of television but one thing it was not was a good place to leave the story for good. I want a real end, dammit! :)

RockManic | April 13, 02:42 CET

Buffy's ending was beautiful. Very nice closure there...but Angel, not so much. As much as I love the whole concept of "always fighting, never quit till it's over" blah, blah, blah, ya I get it. But come on, what happened in that alley? I need me some closure, oh and some kick ass stories, preferably in the Blondie Bear version. I'll freakin' take Clem and Andrew backpacking across the country.

Harmalicious | April 13, 08:50 CET

I don't think "Buffy" will ever die. The character or the series. More than needing "closure", I'd like to see the main characters of both series united for a big battle on the silver screen. Joss style.
Because the characters live on in our hearts, I need more. More Buffy, Scoobies, Angel and more Joss giving it to us. Those are the "musts" in my mind. Where the secondary characters were great, I'd prefer to see the original gold of the Universe.

cheryl | April 16, 19:02 CET