Buffy the Vampire Slayer is still a little warm in the grave, and already a feature remake may be on the horizon.

Joss Whedon’s erstwhile slayer was taken off the air roughly six years ago, but Fran Rubel Kuzui, the director of the original 1992 movie, wants to reboot the franchise. Along with her husband Kaz, Kuzui has held on to the rights to the Buffy character ever since she came across the movie screenplay by the then-unknown Whedon. She developed the screenplay while her husband raised the financing, and though her vision of the film ultimately clashed with what Whedon had had in mind when he wrote it, she brought Whedon back to oversee the subsequent TV series. Fran and Kaz got executive producer billing on both the Buffy and Angel TV series.

The reboot does not involve Whedon and would not feature any of the popular supporting characters from the TV series, and indeed could focus on a new slayer entirely. The goal is to make a “darker, event-sized movie” that would have “franchise potential.” The producers are meeting with writers and hearing takes, and though Kuzui has not ruled out Whedon, she has not reached out to him yet, either.

This sounds like a terrible idea. Everything that made Buffy good and so beloved by fans and critics alike is from Whedon; the show’s quirky vibe and richly textured characters are all extensions of him. To move forward without Joss is to go on without the show’s soul. I can understand the point of relaunching a franchise like the Kirk-Spock era Star Trek, which has been dormant for years, but for a show that’s only been gone for six years? Why not just bring the original talent back and make a proper film adaptation?

This one’s a real head-scratcher. You can read the Hollywood Reporter’s full story on the matter here.

Tags: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Fran Rubel Kuzui, Joss Whedon, Kaz Kuzui