James R | On 17, Dec 2020

The Lizzie McGuire reboot is no longer going ahead at Disney+.

The Disney Channel series, which first aired back in 2001, starred Duff as the eponymous 13-year-old, who struggled through middle school with the help of friends Miranda and Gordo – and with little help from her annoying little brother, Matt, and a nosey, but well-meaning mum. All the while, she’s accompanied by her animated alter ego, who says the things she can’t.

Last year, Disney revealed that Hilary Duff would once again reprise the iconic character in a new series for its Disney+ streaming service, catching up with a Lizzie who is older, wiser and has a bigger shoe budget.

At the start of the year, though, the project hit a snag with creator Terri Minsky stepping down from the revival altogether. Now, Duff has confirmed that the project has been scrapped altogether.

The star wrote in a post on Instagram: “I’ve been so honoured to have the character of Lizzie in my life. She has made such a lasting impact on many, including myself. To see the fans’ loyalty and love for her, to this day, means so much to me. I know the efforts and conversations have been everything trying to make a reboot work, but sadly despite everyone’s best efforts, it isn’t going to happen. 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.”

A Disney spokeswoman told Deadline: “Lizzie McGuire fans have high expectations for any new stories. Unless and until we are confident we can meet those expectations, we’ve decided to hold off and today, we informed the cast’s representatives that we are not moving forward with the planned series.”
 

Lizzie McGuire creator departs Disney+ revival

12th January 2020

Lizzie McGuire creator Terri Minsky has departed the Disney+ revival.

The Disney Channel series, which first aired back in 2001, starred Duff as the eponymous 13-year-old, who struggled through middle school with the help of friends Miranda and Gordo – and with little help from her annoying little brother, Matt, and a nosey, but well-meaning mum. All the while, she’s accompanied by her animated alter ego, who says the things she can’t.

Last year, Disney revealed that Hilary Duff would once again reprise the iconic character in a new series for its Disney+ streaming service, catching up with a Lizzie who is older, wiser and has a bigger shoe budget. Other returning cast members also included Adam Lamberg, Hallie Todd, Robert Carradine and Jake Thomas.

Minsky was attached as showrunner and executive producer, with the programme entering production last November. But now, Minsky has stepped down amid what appear to be creative differences at the House of Mouse. Rachel Winter and Ranada Shepard are still on board as executive producers on the project, which is produced by Salty Pictures.

“Fans have a sentimental attachment to Lizzie McGuire and high expectations for a new series,” said a Disney spokesperson in a statement. “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.”

The series has gone on hiatus, with no new showrunner yet named.

 

Hilary Duff will return as Lizzie McGuire for new Disney+ series

24th August 2019

Hilary Duff will return as Lizzie McGuire for a new Disney+ series.

The Disney Channel series, which first aired back in 2001, starred Duff as the eponymous 13-year-old, who struggled through middle school with the help of friends Miranda and Gordo – and with little help from her annoying little brother, Matt, and a nosey, but well-meaning mum. All the while, she’s accompanied by her animated alter ego, who says the things she can’t.

Now, 18 years later, Disney has confirmed that Duff will once again be back on our screens as the iconic character. The series will catch up with Lizzie, who is now older, wiser and has a bigger shoe budget. With a job for a New York decorator, a dream guy who runs a restaurant and an apartment in Brooklyn, her ideal life seems to be falling into place – although her animated ego, still 13 years old, might have something different to say about that.

The show will be written by Terri Minsky, who created the original Disney Channel show, and marks Disney’s continuing strategy to build upon its existing brands, characters and audiences for new content, whether that’s Star Wars series The Mandalorian, Monsters, Inc. sequel Monsters at Work or a whole host of Marvel series featuring secondary MCU characters.

Duff appeared at D23 last night to announce the news – for more on the event and the other Disney+ announcements made, including the trailer for The Mandalorian, click here.

Disney+ will launch in the US on 12th November, but will not be available in the UK at that point. Whether its original content will be available via existing UK subscription service DisneyLife or even Sky, which has a deal with Disney in the UK, is not yet clear.

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