If you were a movie producer looking to make a lot of money, and you had the chance to do this with a Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie, would you put the project in the hands of the people who made the first film, which was not successful in any way, shape or form, or would you put it in the hands of the guy who wrote the first, crappy film but who later redeemed himself with an enormously popular, long-running TV series adapated from that film?

Obviously, most of us would choose the latter, but then I guess we just don’t know something Roy Lee and Doug Davison (of the Asian-horror-remake factory Vertigo Entertainment) know. The duo is teaming up with Fran Rubel Kuzui, who hasn’t directed a film since Buffy but who “served” as an exec producer on the TV show, and her husband, Kaz Kuzui (producer of the original movie), to relaunch the franchise with a new, darker, event-sized Vampire Slayer movie, which will have nothing to do with the show, and which, as of yet, has no involvement from Joss Whedon.

Due to the success of Twilight and True Blood, I can see why someone would want to kick start another vampire franchise, especially one with name recognition, but is there anyone who would look forward to anything Buffy without Whedon? And even with him, would anyone accept a new actress in the title role after Sarah Michelle Gellar made it iconically her own? Let’s check out the film blog reactions to this ridiculous announcement after the jump:

• Rob Bricken at Topless Robot puts this idea into perspective:
  

  We’ve all bitched about how stupid Hollywood is before, but this idiocy is fucking blowing my mind. They made a Buffy movie without Joss Whedon and it blew. They made a Buffy TV series with Joss Whedon and it ran for seven seasons and was a hit. So now, they decide to make another Buffy movie but not involve Whedon and not tie it to the TV series in any way? This has been proven not to work, you morons.

• Dustin Rowles at Pajiba helps you recover from the news:
  

  Now, come on. Pick yourself up off the floor. Be a man, for God’s sake. Don’t act like Buffy was supposed to be safe from this sort of treatment just because it’s one of your favorite shows of all time. Of course it’s going to be remade. And you’re going to watch it, because that’s the sort of person you are. Now dust yourself off, and pick up all the shit you just pushed off your cubicle desk…if they screw it up (and they probably will), the collateral damage is minimal. You can keep your Buffy and just tell the new generation Buffy to get off your lawn. No harm done.

• Mark at I Watch Stuff offers some very good advice to the Kuzuis:
  

  Fran and Kaz Kuzui, I suggest you plant a rumor that there’s a lost episode of Firefly hidden somewhere inside the internet and use the resulting panic and distraction to get away. These Whedon superfans are already pretty riled up by the poor ratings and near-cancellation of Dollhouse paired with all their friends’ reluctance to sit down and watch Serenity. They don’t need to hear this right now. You’ve made a mistake. Escape while you can.

• Amos Barshad at Vulture sees only way the Kuzuis can avoid going into hiding:
  

  If Kuzui is looking to avoid the Great Jar Jar Binks Nerd Riots of 1999, we suggest she let [Joss Whedon] direct.

• S.T. VanAirsdale at Movieline offers up the idea of a crossover:
  

  Ideally, Buffy would dovetail with Twilight in a sort of Alien vs. Predator-style fight to the death; if you can’t get excited about the prospects for Bella the Vampire Slayer, then what can you get excited about?

• On a potentially related note, Mike Sampson at JoBlo offers up the idea of a horny teenage boy’s dream:
  

  Now I’m not BUFFY fan but isn’t this the worst idea ever? Wasn’t the original film pretty much universally hated while Whedon’s series was almost universally loved? And it’s not like STAR TREK where a sufficient amount of time has passed from the original incarnation to the remake. Then again, if they decide to explore Buffy’s lesbian tendencies, I might be inclined to pay $8 for a ticket…

• Vince Mancini at Film Drunk offers up the idea of a metal head’s dream:
  

  No Angel and Willow and Xander and Spike?  You know that’ll upset a lot of fans.  Perhaps they can be replaced with me rolling my eyes and wanking. The only thing that would make me interested in this is if they changed it to Slayer the Vampire Slayer.

• Bob at Forward to Yesterday addresses the Kuzui loophole and employs it in an analogy:
  

  Now, with those [Star] Trek and Twilight grosses pointing the way, Kuzui is trying to restart the franchise, apparently using a loophole from the original concept of their being a new slayer in every generation. As a fan of the show, trust me when I say this is nowhere near as clever as the loophole J.J. Abrams and company came up with the stay on Trekkies’ good sides. Overall, this idea strikes me as if the Coca-Cola company had put out New Coke as a non-carbonated non-cola. Buffy without Buffy Summers, and the Whedonverse, without Whedon = box office gold?!? Nah.

• Kevin Coll at Fused Film uses the new Star Trek movie as an example of why we shouldn’t be afraid of this news:
  

  So this is a conundrum I faced back when the Star Trek reboot was announced. I was concerned but this new vision put together by Abrams has taken money from my wallet 5 times. So how to I feel about Buffy? Ideally I would love to have Whedon’s involvement and I hope they honor his vision and creation which has made them much money and at least approach him to direct or write the remake. I would have said the same thing if Rodenberry was still alive.

• A self-professed “MASSIVE Whedonite,” Rodney at The Movie Blog also addresses the Star Trek comparison, but not as optimistically:
  

  If someone had told me they were remaking Star Trek, I would say they were out of their mind. But they did. Kinda. This Star Trek was a reboot, and paid due tribute to its predacessors, and “continued” the story without remaking the story. This gave them a clean slate and I applauded them for it…All that being said, Buffy is one of those franchises that saw a wave of success that will overshadow any attempt to reboot it. I am not saying it can’t be done, but it won’t be easy.

• Todd Brown at Twitch sees the potential for this thing to be a good idea:
  

  …it actually makes a whole lot of sense.  There’s a loyal fan base out there hungry for more stories from the Buffy-verse and the mythology of the world is absolutely perfect for this sort of relaunch.  After all, it all plays out in a world where there is always a Slayer - all you need to do is set it in a different time period and you immediately have a legitimate spot to introduce an entirely new set of characters…With a smart writer and good support cast, this could actually work…

• Steven Zeitchik at Risky Biz Blog suggests some new blood to take over the lead role:
  

  Megan Fox could work — she’s  already fighting giant robots — a good credential — and plays a high school girl who gets possessed by a demon in “Jennifer¹s Body.” “Twilight” star Kristen Stewart could make the jump from one vampire to another — though how much undead can one girl want?  And then there’s Teresa Palmer, the “Bedtime Stories” and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” co-star whose stock is rising in Hollywood. Let the voting begin.