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Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival dead at Hulu, revealed a day before director Chloé Zhao heads to the Oscars

Excited about Buffy: New Sunnydale? We have some very bad news

Published on Sat Mar 14 2026

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In a surprise announcement on social media, Sarah Michelle Gellar has revealed that Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, the reboot of the TV show that defined genre TV during its original 1997-2004 run, will not be happening after all, with Hulu deciding not to move forward with the project.

“I wanted you to hear it from me: unfortunately, Hulu has decided not to move forward with Buffy: New Sunnydale,” Gellar said in a video posted to Instagram. “I want to thank Chloé Zhao, because I never thought I’d 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. And this doesn’t change any of that.”

New Sunnydale, the title given to the revival of the series, was originally revealed to the world back in early 2025, with Gellar talking about how Zhao had personally convinced her to return to the franchise. “Chloe had this idea in a world and the passion with which she spoke both about her idea and the show made me realize that now more than ever we need those heroes to believe in,” Gellar told Variety at the time.

Zhao, who won the Academy Award for Best Director in 2021 for her film Nomadland — and whose 2025 movie Hamnet is up for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress in a Leading Role at this year’s Academy Awards — had directed the pilot and was set to be an executive producer of the show if it went to series. (It's worth wondering if Hulu might reverse its decision if Hamnet ends up winning each of its categories.)

Instead, the show has been dropped without a statement by Hulu. Deadline reports that sources have described the pilot as “not perfect,” although the streamer “remains high on the Buffy IP” and plans to re-approach in the future. But will any new approach have both the iconic earlier Buffy and a critically acclaimed filmmaker attached…? Just wait: maybe the next one will team Kristy Swanson and Paul Thomas Anderson, now that we've said that.

The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer series remains on Hulu, for now.

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Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.