Sarah Michelle Gellar has revealed that a single executive who openly disliked the original "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was responsible for killing the planned Hulu reboot, "Buffy: New Sunnydale."

In an exclusive interview with People published Sunday, Gellar said the unnamed executive made the creative process difficult from the start. "We had an executive on our show who was not only not a fan of the original, but was proud to constantly remind us that he had never seen the entirety of the series and how it wasn't for him," she said.​

Gellar described the situation as "an uphill battle" from day one. "How do you do a show that's beloved with someone that doesn't love it?" she asked.

The actress broke the news in an Instagram video on Saturday, Mar. 14, saying she was "really sad" that Hulu decided not to move forward with the revival, according to IGN. She said the call came on Friday while she was at the SXSW premiere of her new film, "Ready or Not 2: Here I Come."

Gellar told People that "nobody saw this coming," adding that even the head of Searchlight Pictures was blindsided. She called herself "saddened at how it was handled and when it was handled," noting the timing coincided with director Chloé Zhao's Oscar nomination weekend for "Hamnet."​

Zhao, who directed the pilot, told Variety at the Oscars on Mar. 15 that she was "not surprised" by Hulu's decision. "Our priority for Sarah and for us has always been to be truthful to the show, to be truthful to our fans," Zhao said.​

Deadline reported that sources described the pilot as "not perfect" and that Zhao's artistic vision may not have aligned with the reboot's needs. Hulu considered reworking it before scrapping the project.​

The revival was set to pair Gellar's Buffy with a new slayer played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong, with Nora and Lilla Zuckerman as writers and showrunners. Disney owns the "Buffy" intellectual property, and sources say that Hulu remains interested in the franchise in another form, as per Variety.

Tags
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy the vampire slayer, Reboot, Hulu