Lizzie McGuire reboot is officially canceled, star Hilary Duff confirms through a social media announcement. Duff originally played teenage Lizzie on the Disney Channel series from 2001 to 2004.
In a post she made on Instagram last Wednesday, Duff shared the news that Lizzie McGuire is no longer happening. She began by saying how her character Lizzie was transformative for her and her fans, that she felt grateful for their support even after years of concluding the series. However, she explains that “despite everyone’s best efforts, it isn’t going to happen.”
Duff continued to seemingly confirm that a hesitancy to delve into a more mature Lizzie is what stalled the reboot. She wrote, “I want any reboot of Lizzie to be honest and authentic to who Lizzie would be today. It’s what the character deserves. We can all take a moment to mourn the amazing woman she would have been and the adventures we would have taken with her.”
“I’m very sad, but I promise everyone tried their best and the stars just didn’t align. Hey now, this is what 2020s made of,” she concluded the post.
News broke last year that she would be reprising the role in a reboot for Disney+. She will be joined by her former onscreen family members Jake Thomas, Hallie Todd, and Robert Carradine, as well as Adam Lamberg as Lizzie’s love interest, Gordo. Production started in late 2019, and the reboot was included in Disney+’s 2020 highly-anticipated line-up.
Terri Minsky, who created the original series, was supposed to serve as showrunner for the new one. She apparently stepped away in January over creative differences.
Why did Disney reject the Lizzie McGuire reboot?
Disney+’s preference for family-friendly offerings was clearly evident as mature projects like High Fidelity and Love, Victor moved to Hulu. Seeing Lizzie would now be in her 30s, both Minsky and Duff wanted to explore a more mature character version. Hence, they thought Lizzie McGuire should become a Hulu production instead of a Disney+ one.
Unfortunately, that just didn’t work out. As disappointing as it seems, fans who were looking forward to watching grown-up Lizzie won’t be able to do so. Now, they will just have to imagine.
While there could be other factors that led to Lizzie McGuire’s total abolition, blame seems to point out those creative issues. Moving forward, Disney+ should truly think through their projects before ordering them and getting fans’ hopes up. It is truly a frustrating development for all Lizzie McGuire expectants. On the other hand, at least a definitive answer regarding its reboot status has been cleared.