Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Can Stop the Signal - No Buffy Movie



As most of you are aware, the Kuzui's are considering rebooting Buffy as a film franchise without the involvement of any of the television cast or Joss Whedon himself. Our collective first reaction at Buffyfest was to assume that this, like past rumors, were baseless and false. Since this news comes to us from the Hollywood Reporter, however, we have to take it a little more seriously. We've spent so much time trying to save shows and trying to get movies made I wonder how it is that we can do the opposite? Do we rally in protest or do we all play apathetic? I think I can speak for almost everyone on earth, it's orbital moon, the rest of the universe, and all possible parallel worlds that a Buffy movie without Joss should never ever happen.

So what do you say, kids, how do we derail this sucker?

Update - now with more petition-ey goodness. Go here to sign, if you care.:
http://www.petitiononline.com/00007123/petition.html
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18 comments:

  1. StephMay 26, 2009 at 2:02 PM

    I like the idea of punching them in the face for their stupidity, but that most likely wouldn't work. I'd also recommend their families do an intervention. I can't see how this came to be unless drugs were involved.

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  2. AndrewCrossettMay 26, 2009 at 4:05 PM

    We don't have to derail it. Fox's lawyers will do it for us.

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  3. Kyle MaierMay 26, 2009 at 4:39 PM

    Is burning them alive too medieval?

    ...Maybe take a page from the Mob's book: break their knees.

    Ooh, ooh! I know! I have a great one! We would need a metal cage, some high-quality bungee cord, & a fair amount of bees, though...

    (I'm not going to make any sensical suggestions; I'm stuck in a hate-spiral & don't want to be logical. So there!)

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  4. AnonymousMay 26, 2009 at 8:38 PM

    http://www.PetitionOnline.com/00007123/petition.html

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  5. JaynaPavlinMay 26, 2009 at 9:03 PM

    someone talking about it means its still very unlikely. It just means someone is tossing around ideas and someone caught wind of that one.

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  6. AndrewCrossettMay 26, 2009 at 9:55 PM

    If any of you guys have Whedonesque accounts, you might want to go there and mention the fact that the Kuzuis do *not* own the rights to Buffy, as everyone seems to assume based on the poorly-researched article that started this whole thing. Fox owns all Buffy copyrights and trademarks, and they've been working with Joss on this franchise for 15 years, and still are now.

    It just ticks me off that people are treating this movie as a done deal when, in fact, there's no way it's going to happen.

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  7. TaraMay 26, 2009 at 10:51 PM

    Andrew, is that 100% fact? Because I myself have researched Buffy's trademarks before out of curiosity and never once saw and legal affiliation to the Kuzui's...yet there's always been this talk.

    Because I sense your frustration, I'm going to just copy and paste your comments over at Whedonesque. By the way, you can look up Buffy's trademarks here. Guess there could be other fine print, though, that we don't know about?:

    http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=toc&state=4007%3Ac4fttj.1.1&p_search=searchss&p_L=50&BackReference=&p_plural=yes&p_s_PARA1=&p_tagrepl~%3A=PARA1%24LD&expr=PARA1+AND+PARA2&p_s_PARA2=buffy&p_tagrepl~%3A=PARA2%24COMB&p_op_ALL=AND&a_default=search&a_search=Submit+Query&a_search=Submit+Query

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  8. AndrewCrossettMay 27, 2009 at 9:30 AM

    That link gets cut off and doesn't work for me... my info on the copyright and trademark status is taken directly from both the latest Buffy comic trade paperback, and the season 7 DVD sets. Both Mutant Enemy and Kuzui Enterprises (and Sandollar) are given production credits, but not copyright credits.

    It's been said the Kuzuis may still hold rights to the original movie, but not the TV show. However, the indicia in the Buffy comic states that Fox claims "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the "Buffy" character as trademarks. If the Kuzuis want to make a movie using the Buffy name, they're going to have to challenge Fox for the trademarks.

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  9. AndrewCrossettMay 27, 2009 at 9:41 AM

    Okay, I got the trademark search to come up. 26 trademarks, some of them expired, but every one of them registered by 20th Century Fox.

    At the very least, this would be a very expensive legal battle for the Kuzuis if they want to pursue it.

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  10. elainecleoMay 27, 2009 at 10:01 AM

    I would not start bad mouthing a movie until I found out who the stars would be. Since I am not a SMG fan I could live with a different Buffy, but it would have to have James Marsters as Spike in it or I would not bother. I just can not see it happening, but would love to see who they would pick.

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  11. snowpopMay 29, 2009 at 9:05 PM

    this announcement gets a score of Lame with a side of No, thank you. if it's really for real then the kuzuis need to get ahold of themselves.

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  12. benMay 30, 2009 at 5:33 PM

    Just stopping by to give props where they are due. The kazoo FAIL picture made me laugh my ass off at work, and I don't mind. Because it's that awesome. And soon to be my facebook photo.

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  13. TaraMay 30, 2009 at 5:58 PM

    Haha! Thanks, ben. After a quick discussion of all the internet's great FAIL photos, Bitsy said "you know what we need for this post? Some kazoos." Alas, a FAIL photo was born. Hee! We're proud to have it be your FB photo.

    To everyone in general: strange that this subject has been a bit quiet the past few days, no? It's an eerie quiet. I don't like it.

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  14. JayunderscorezeroJune 1, 2009 at 4:08 AM

    I'm sorry, have I missed something? Why are we against this movie exactly? It's too early to be hating on the cast or creative team, surely. I know that there's a fear of repeating the problems associated with the Kristy Swanson/Luke Perry movie, but still, that alone doesn't seem to explain some of the bile I'm seeing here.

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  15. BitsyJune 1, 2009 at 11:26 AM

    What we're "hating on", Jay, is the Kuzui's and the idea of them doing a Buffy movie without Joss. It seems almost spiteful in nature. They mangled his script for the first film, collected profits off the tv show without having to do anything, and now they want to take it from the top? That's profoundly shitty of them.

    We here at Buffyfest have wanted nothing more than a Buffy movie since long before this site started but we want one that's being created by a team that actually cares about the property.

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  16. JayunderscorezeroJune 1, 2009 at 1:09 PM

    I see. Still, I guess this is one of those things where, despite whatever deplorable things are going on behind the scenes, I'll probably wait to see if they affect what goes up on the screen before making my judgments about the film itself, rather than the production of it.

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  17. snowpopJune 1, 2009 at 5:44 PM

    it's 'live and let live' attitudes like yours, jay, that got us things like the new 90210 and 'Wolverine.' the kuzuis had their shot and they blew it. i, for one, would like to give credit where joss is due and keep a little integrity in this fandom. if there is going to be a buffy movie (and that would be a big YAY from me) then it should come from the guy who gives a fig about buffy herself. no one named kaz or fran kuzui has been able to prove that claim with any veracity.

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  18. AnonymousDecember 17, 2009 at 5:05 PM

    SIGN THIS PETITION GUYS! WE NEED AS MANY AS POSSIBLE. IF THEYRE GOING TO MAKE THE MOVIE WITHOUT JOSS AND THE ORIGINAL CAST THEN WE DONT WANT A MOVIE AT ALL! http://www.petitiononline.com/nbmwjw/petition.html

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