No Joss Whedon, no Sarah Michelle Gellar, no Scooby Gang for the new 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' movie — yes, THAT is the formula for disaster!

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I learned from Moe Lane today about the announcements in May and June of plans for a new Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie without Buffy’s creator, Joss Whedon, who wrote the screenplay of the original 1992 movie and wrote and produced the series of the same name, which ran from 1997 to 2003. The rights to Buffy belong to the hack director of the original “Buffy” movie, Fran Rubel Kuzui, who is generally credited with making the movie into a mediocrity by tampering with Whedon’s script.

Whedonesque has the round-up of links to reactions to this announcement. Entertainment Weekly captures the reaction of fans of the Buffyverse with this survey:

“How do you feel about a big screen ‘Buffy’ that doesn’t involve Joss Whedon?”

1. When and where is the riot occurring? (65 percent — including my vote — I’m sure you’re surprised)
2. They can make it, but it will never exist to me (35 percent)
3. Great, can’t wait to see it! (3 percent — who ARE these people?)

I think Metta captures the outrage of Buffy fans best at her blog, TV, Books and Film:

Problem #1: The only reason the Buffy franchise is so successful is because of the insanely rabid fans. There aren’t very many casual Buffy-watchers. People either never watched enough to get hooked, or they are completely nuts about it. Those are the only two options. By rebooting the franchise, and ignoring the characters that the fanbase cares about, the feature film may appeal to a new generation, but it will completely alienate the existing fans. And without the existing fans on board, I doubt the movie will do very well.

Problem #2: Joss Whedon has not even been approached about being involved. So, this pretty much guarantees that the movie will suck. You can’t do Buffy without Joss in complete control. They took control away from Joss for the 1992 movie, and look what happened. Plus, now, the rapid fans of the TV show aren’t just going to ignore the movie, they will actively work to undermine it. Speaking as a rabid fan, I promise you, this will happen. Check out the article and accompanying poll at EW.com. If there are riots, I will totally go.

I’ll see you there, Metta. I’ll see you there.