Hilary Duff has officially opened up about why the highly-anticipated Lizzie McGuire reboot has hit a standstill.
On Friday, February 28, the actress explained on Instagram to her followers that she believes launching the revival series with a PG rating on Disney+ wouldn’t be authentic to the character or to the fans who have grown up with the show.
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“Was incredibly excited to launch Lizzie on D+ and my passion remains! However, I feel a huge responsibility to honor the fans’ relationship with Lizzie who, like me, grew up seeing themselves in her,” Duff wrote at the time. “I’d be doing a disservice to everyone by limiting the realities of a 30-year-old’s journey to live under the ceiling of a PG rating. It’s important to me that just as her experiences as a preteen/teenager navigating life were authentic, her next chapters are equally as real and relatable. It would be a dream if Disney would let us move the show to Hulu, if they were interested, and I could bring this beloved character to life again.”
Duff’s recent comments come days after the LGBTQ+ Love, Simon TV series adaption Love, Victor was moved from the Disney streaming platform to Hulu due to the show’s depiction of alcohol use, sexual exploration, and marital issues among parents. These depictions brought concerns to Disney+ that the show would not fit the family-focused platform and it was then decided that Love, Victor would fit better on Hulu. On Tuesday, February 25, Duff shared an Instagram Story with the words “family-friendly” circled in a news story headline and wrote above it “Sounds familiar..”
Production on the Lizzie McGuire reboot has been on pause since January when original series creator and showrunner Terri Minsky was fired after two episodes. “I would love the show to exist, but ideally I would love it if it could be given that treatment of going to Hulu and doing the show that we were doing,” the show’s creator said in a recent interview with Variety. “That’s the part where I am completely in the dark. It’s important to me that this show was important to people. I felt like I wanted to do a show that was worthy of that kind of devotion.”
As Duff and Minsky push for a mature version of Lizzie now that she’s 30 years old, a move to Hulu should be obvious. The original Lizzie McGuire series followed a teenaged Lizzie navigating the ups and downs of middle school, whereas the revival should focus on adult issues on the reboot which is aimed at viewers her own age navigating the same kinds of things.
Brittany R
Brittany is a writer who is obsessed with rom-com movies, Gossip Girl, reality television, fashion, and pop-culture. When she isn't reporting on the latest celeb buzz, she is filling up her online shopping cart without checking out.