Hamnet director Chloé Zhao’s long-awaited Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot will not be happening.
The titular star of the original series, Sarah Michelle Gellar, posted a video on Instagram Saturday to share the news with fans.
“I am really sad to have to share this, but I wanted you all to hear it from me. Unfortunately, Hulu has decided not to move forward with Buffy: New Sunnydale,” she said. “I want to thank Chloé Zhao, because I never thought I would find myself back in Buffy’s stylish yet affordable boots. And thanks to Chloé, I was reminded how much I love her and how much she means not only to me but to all of you.”
The video concluded as she added, “This doesn’t change any of that, and I promise if the apocalypse actually comes, you can still beep me.”
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which began airing in 1997, follows Buffy Summers, the newest “slayer” fated to battle supernatural creatures such as vampires.
She’s guided in her quests by her watcher Rupert Giles, played by Anthony Stewart Head, and has a loyal group of friends to help her — powerful witch Willow Rosenberg, played by Alyson Hannigan, and Xander Harris, played by Nicholas Brendon. The series ended after seven seasons in 2003.
Reports of the show’s reboot were first reported in February 2025, with Zhao set to direct a script written by Nora and Lilla Zuckerman. The series was meant to follow a new slayer played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong, while Gellar, once again playing Buffy, would only be a recurring character.
The Buffy lead previously said that she had originally been against the idea as she was “very proud of the show that we created, and [a revival] doesn’t need to be done. We wrapped that up.”
However, in December 2024, she shared that she had changed her mind after seeing popular and successful reboots of shows like Sex and the City and Dexter.
“I have always listened to the fans and heard your desire to revisit Buffy and her world, but it was not something I could do unless I was sure we would get it right. This has been a long process, and it’s not over yet,” she said at the time.
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“I promise you, we will only make this show if we know we can do it right. And I will tell you that we are on the path there.”
