‘Lizzie McGuire’ Disney+ reboot reportedly focused on sex, infidelity
We might now have a bit more information in the saga of the Lizzie McGuire reboot.
We already knew it seemed to be put on hold for containing adult-themes. The star, Hilary Duff said as much when she asked to move to Hulu. But now, it seems we know a bit more about those themes and why Disney+ didn’t approve.
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Back in January, the Lizzie McGuire reboot was put on hold following the firing of original series creator and revival showrunner Terri Minsky.
A Disney spokesperson spoke about the details in an exclusive with Variety.
“Fans have a sentimental attachment to ‘Lizzie McGuire’ and high expectations for a new series,” the Disney spokesperson says. “After filming two episodes, we concluded that we need to move in a different creative direction and are putting a new lens on the show.”
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Many speculated that the firing was a result of the show being too adult for the Disney audience. Disney allegedly wants it to appeal to both kids and adults. Duff opened up about returning to the role of Lizzie McGuire with Entertainment Tonight, explaining part of the perks is delving into the same challenges she experiences in real-life.
“That was part of the draw for me for coming back was the struggles that I feel as a 30-year-old,” Duff says.
“She has gained a lot of confidence and she has a really cool career,” Duff continued. “She’s still going to be faced with challenging things, where, in middle school, those challenging things seemed simple and funny but relatable at the time. Now, in your 30s, it’s gonna be the same way but slightly heavier. [She’ll have] slightly bigger things to deal with.”
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Minsky was fired after completing just two episodes.
Then, following the Disney+ show Love, Simon being renamed Love, Victor and be switched over to Hulu, Duff spoke out about her frustrations and said she wished the series would be moved to Hulu.
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. 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.
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Minsky echoed the same sentiments in an interview with Variety.
“I am so proud of the two episodes we did,” Minsky told Variety. “Hilary has a grasp of Lizzie McGuire at 30 that needs to be seen. It’s a wonderful thing to watch,” Minsky says.
“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. 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.”
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Now, thanks to an acquired script, The Hollywood Reporter says that the first episodes dealt directly with sex and infidelity.
According to THR, the Lizzie McGuire script they obtained “acknowledges the existence of sex with cheating as a central plot point.”
Disney+ hasn’t responded publicly to the request. A spokeswoman did say in late February, “Our goal is to resume production and to tell an authentic story that connects to the millions who are emotionally invested in the character, and a new generation of viewers too.”
The future is still uncertain for Lizzie McGuire, however, because neither a new production date or showrunner has been announced. Fingers crossed we get good news soon because that’s what dreams are made of.
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