Buffy revival pilot wraps filming, Gellar returns as recurring star

The pilot for the long-awaited followup to Buffy the Vampire Slayer has finished filming, producers and participants said, marking a major step toward bringing the property back to television more than two decades after the original series ended. The new project, set roughly 25 years after the events of the original, will center on a new teenage slayer while returning the franchise star Sarah Michelle Gellar as a recurring character and executive producer, the team confirmed.

Cast and creative details have crystallized around a team blending legacy and new voices. Oscar winner Chloé Zhao directed the pilot and said the series honors the show’s original DNA while updating it for today. Two writers who will serve as showrunners are leading the writers room, and a young actor described in casting materials as an introverted high school student has been chosen to play the new slayer. The production also counts Dolly Parton among its executive producers, continuing her involvement from the original series. Producers said the project will air on a major streaming service.

Gellar, who portrayed Buffy Summers on the 1997 to 2003 series, described the revival as emotionally intense and...