June 19 2012
The return of the Slayer - time for more Buffy on the big screen?
James Dawson writes about why it's the right time for a Joss Whedon Buffy movie starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and what it might involve.
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Maeve | June 19, 09:48 CET
MoonRose | June 19, 10:00 CET
czechoslovakian7 | June 19, 10:13 CET
impalergeneral | June 19, 10:14 CET
Barry Woodward | June 19, 10:26 CET
Also, I would rather it didn't focus on potential slayers, and the fact that there thousands of slayers out in the world now. I'd kind of want it to be old school. Which would be hard to sell, however, due to the actors' aging.
bloomyself | June 19, 10:27 CET
Ricardo L. | June 19, 10:33 CET
The broad mythology of Promethea is somewhat similar to Buffy...each generation there's a passing of the (super-powered) torch. A new vessel is chosen (sort of).
I'd love to see Joss tackle Buffy in about 10 years--it could be a passing the torch story and Buffy could have a final moment of selflessness. A death worthy of the greatest slayer of all time. Then its all about the new.
alexreager | June 19, 10:53 CET
MrArg | June 19, 10:55 CET
Squishy | June 19, 11:06 CET
Its one of those comic series that flew under the radar. The story is fantastic and the artwork is amazing. I love that it's loaded with two page splashes. The lush artwork makes you spend more time looking at the art than reading the few lines of dialog that accompany those types of splash pages.
Here's an example for anyone interested.
alexreager | June 19, 11:20 CET
@theonetruebix | June 19, 11:59 CET
Jaymii | June 19, 12:09 CET
In the end, although I'd love a big screen Buffy, what I really want is 7 more seasons of mythology packed, original series stars,Sarah Michelle Gellar Prinze brooding, Spike quippng, Xander+Anya (figure it out), queen Cordelia having, Allyson Hannigan loving, Bronze visitng goodness. And chocolate.
flatiron | June 19, 12:53 CET
blanetalk | June 19, 12:55 CET
Effulgent | June 19, 13:02 CET
zz9 | June 19, 13:06 CET
Simon | June 19, 13:10 CET
@theonetruebix | June 19, 13:46 CET
batmarlowe | June 19, 15:26 CET
Amrita | June 19, 16:44 CET
@theonetruebix | June 19, 17:27 CET
Ara | June 19, 18:04 CET
The simple fact is that a movie will have to be made for a mass audience and not the hardcore fans. And, in the popular consciousness, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is still a high school girl that slays vampires. And the longer the canon material ran, the further it moved away from that high concept.
It was relatively easy to go from Firefly to Serenity since it didn't have as much baggage as the slayerverse has. Serenity acted as both a reboot for the first-time viewers and a continuation of the story for the long-time fans.
A Buffy movie would probably have to pick up ten, fifteen, or twenty years after "Graduation Day" (a high school reunion?), and feature the core group of characters from that era: Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Angel, Cordelia, and Oz. That's a simple concept for mainstream audiences. The further in you go, the more you have to deal with like Spike and Buffy's complicated relationship, Dawn, Faith, Willow's changed orientation, the Slayer Army, the destruction of Sunnydale, the death of magic, etc. It becomes a continuity-heavy mess that is going to confuse anyone who isn't intimately familiar with the minutia of the canon. It's not just a matter of ignoring the comic books.
It's why "Star Trek" works as a movie and not something like Babylon 5. Star Trek: The Motion Picture functioned as an extended episode of a series that was not continuity-heavy and full of change, deaths, and character arcs. Babylon 5 was a continuity-based series with a rigid story arc that had nearly constant change throughout its five year run. Anyone can watch Star Trek The Motion Picture and catch up to speed where you're seeing the old gang getting back together for a new caper.
Nobody is going to put up an eight-figure budget to make a big special effects movie to satisfy a small group of hardcore fans. It's going to have to be something simple to satisfy mainstream and international audiences who don't know anything about an army of slayers or why Buffy has a fake sister.
pacer | June 19, 18:54 CET
Just because I loved a series doesn't mean I need sequels or spin-offs. And both SMG and Joss seem to have moved on.
... however, if Joss wants to do a televisual Fray or continue the comics adventures, I would be entirely game. That's a story that needs closure!
dottikin | June 19, 21:20 CET
Someone would likely die, and I don't really want to see that. And without Spike I wouldn't even be interested.
Not to mention spacefrakking, but I imagine unless Joss financed it himself there would be someone with enough sense to veto that idea.
Xane | June 19, 21:49 CET
woofie | June 20, 09:12 CET
abitca | June 20, 10:01 CET
I just have a feeling like, in spite of what he's said in 2003/4 about the Buffyverse being a whole world full of tellable stories, Joss is setting a course to destroy it as a distinct world so he won't be tempted ever to re-visit it.
DaddyCatALSO | June 20, 11:27 CET
skynet_00101 | June 20, 12:17 CET
In fact the fabled TV movies from 2005 could be incorporated too!
Jamzro | June 20, 14:57 CET
Rowan Hawthorn | June 21, 08:56 CET
Plus would probably do really well right now: vampires are popular, futuristic dystopias are
erendis | June 21, 09:04 CET