The Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot, which reportedly has "New Sunnydale" as its working title, has started shooting in Los Angeles. With that comes what appears to be a first look at Star Wars: Skeleton Crew star Ryan Kiera Armstrong as the show's new lead slayer.
There have been some grumblings about the 15-year-old Armstrong being a little too young for this role, and she definitely looks like a high schooler here. However, it's worth noting that in the original series, Buffy Summers was also only meant to be 16, though Gellar was 20 at the time.
Sarah Michelle Gellar is reprising her role as Buffy in the series, which added Rakotohavana (Secret Society of Second Born Royals) as Hugo, Ava Jean (Law & Order: SVU) as Larkin, Sarah Bock (Severance) as Gracie, Daniel di Tomasso (Witches of East End) as Abe, and Jack Cutmore-Scott (Oppenheimer) as Mr. Burke earlier this week.
A recent logline for Buffy the Vampire Slayer revealed that, "Nova, a 16-year-old bookworm, discovers she’s a vampire Slayer in a rebuilt Sunnydale, split between gritty Old Sunnydale and upscale New Sunnydale."
"During Vampire Weekend, a festival celebrating the town’s dark past, vampires Jack and Shirley emerge from a construction site, killing a teen and planning a ritual to raise a vampire army at the Cursed Circle," it concluded.
Nora Zuckerman and Lila Zuckerman are attached to write, showrun, and executive produce the pilot. Eternals helmer Chloé Zhao is attached to direct and executive produce under her Book of Shadows production banner. Gellar executive produces with Gail Berman.
Fran Kuzui and Kaz Kuzui will executive produce through Suite B, while Dolly Parton will executive produce via Sandollar. 20th Television and Searchlight Television also produce, and Berman, the Kuzuis, and Parton were all executive producers on the original TV series.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was released in 1992 as a feature film starring Kristy Swanson. Joss Whedon wrote that, and Fran Kuzui directed. Five years later, the franchise was rebooted for The WB with Gellar taking over the lead role. It ran for five seasons on that network, and moved to UPN for the final two.
A spin-off series, Angel, was led by David Boreanaz and also ran for five seasons. Buffy has been benched ever since, so this revival marks a long-awaited comeback for the vampire slayer.
You can watch this Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale set video below (via FearHQ.com).