Hulu is developing a reboot of the cult favorite series ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, with original series star Sarah Michelle Gellar attached to the new project from writers Nora and Lilla Zuckerman.

Variety learned from sources that a sequel series to the beloved “Buffy ” is nearing a pilot order at Hulu, with the reboot said to be “the next chapter in the Buffyverse,” with Oscar winner Chloé Zhao set to direct.  Sources say the new Buffy would focus on a younger Slayer and that Gellar’s Buffy Summers would not be the central character.

Gellar (who’s currently starring in Showtime’s Dexter: Original Sin) has said in the past that she wasn’t interested in a Buffy reboot, but in a December appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, she said she was now open to the idea. She later posted to her socials confirming that the project was in the works, writing in a statement on Instagram: “Three years ago, I got a call from my dear friend and mentor, Gail Berman. She told me that she wanted me to sit down with Chloé Zhao to hear her take on a potential Buffy revival. I was blown away that Chloé even knew who I was, but, as I’ve always done, I told Gail that I just didn’t see a way for the show to exist again. We’d always been aligned on that, but this time I heard something different in her voice.

Gellar said she agreed to take on the meeting “mainly just to meet Chloé” and that a “twenty-minute coffee quickly turned into a four-hour adventure. We laughed, we cried, but mostly we both talked about how much this show means to us.  I did shock myself by agreeing to continue the conversation. These conversations did, in fact, continue over the next few years and eventually we added the incredible Nora and Lilla Zuckerman to our little tribe until ultimately, one day, we landed on an idea. I have always listened to the fans and heard your desire to revisit Buffy and her world, but it was not something I could do unless I was sure we would get it right. This has been a long process, and it’s not over yet. I promise you, we will only make this show if we know we can do it right. And I will tell you that we are on the path there. I feel so lucky to be on this journey with these four unbelievably talented women, all of whom love ‘Buffy’ as much as I do. And as much as you do. Thank you to all the fans who never stopped asking for this. This will be for you.”

Editorial credit: Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com