Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans were hopeful when a reboot with Sarah Michelle Gellarattached was announced. Upon news of Hulu axing the reboot, Gellar reveals she hopes the filmed pilot episode never sees the light of day.
The actor was heavily involved in bringing back the famed teen vampire series alongside Oscar-nominated director Chloé Zhao, with newcomer Ryan Kiera Armstrong in the leading role as the new slayer. Gellar learned at the SXSW Film & TV festival that Hulu wasn’t going forward with the reboot, despite having filmed a pilot.
Speaking with Page Six’s P6 Radio, the hosts admitted they hope the pilot gets leaked for fans to see what could have been. The Buffy star disagrees, saying it would have only caused a stir due to it being unfinished and not a perfect representation of what they wanted.
“I actually hope it doesn’t,” she said. “Because then everyone’s going to have an opinion on this and that, and pilots are not finished. It wasn’t done, right? It’s not like we did a season and finished it and then they shelved it. It’s not like when they made Batgirl the movie, right, and then didn’t show it.”
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Gellar goes on to add that the pilot was made on purpose to test certain storylines and new character introductions. She admits it’s in an effort to “learn from it” and “there’s things to fix.” Variety reported that the pilot footage shows that Gellar’s original character barely appears, and instead features the new slayer and characters.
“Usually, a pilot doesn’t air in its entirety ever,” she said. “It’s a learning tool. I mean, the original Buffy pilot was nothing to do with the show. It was a different Willow, I mean, it’s a very different show. But those are learning tools, and that’s what a pilot is.”
TheI Know What You Did Last Summer star also chimes in that the script that was circulating online is “unfortunate” because it’s not real. She urges fans not to read everything that appears online because “you’re not getting our vision.” Gellar broke the news of Hulu’s passing on the series through an Instagram video.
