Actress Hilary Duff, best known as the star of beloved Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire, confirmed on December 16 that the Disney+ reboot has been axed. (All the animated versions of our inner monologue are screaming right now.)
“I know efforts and conversations have been everywhere trying to make a reboot work but, sadly and despite everyone’s best efforts, it isn’t going to happen,” Duff wrote on Instagram. “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 2020’s made of.”
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The news that a Lizzie McGuire was getting a reboot dropped in August 2019. The prospect excited fans, especially considering the original creator Terri Minsky and members of the original cast were involved. However, it was soon revealed to be plagued with a series of challenges — mainly the growing creative differences between Disney and both Minsky and Duff. While the network wanted to keep the show "family-friendly," the two didn't believe it would be right to sanitize the life of a now 30-something year old. At first, the network decided to roll with Minsky and Duff's take, but changed their mind, firing Minksy in January after filming two episodes over differences in "creative direction."
The show reportedly started off with Lizzie living in Brooklyn and discovering her fiancé cheated on her — too spicy for you, Disney? Duff continued to express her frustration in February, and even suggested that the show could move from Disney+ to Hulu so it could be a little more grown up.
"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," Duff posted on Instagram at the time. Unfortunately, given its issues and the added challenge of the pandemic, Lizzie McGuire couldn't be saved.
A few other members of the cast shared their disappointment. Jake Thomas, who was set to bring back his role of Lizzie’s pesky younger brother Matt, even gifted us a little glimpse of what could have been. “I’m bummed you all don’t get to see how Matt grew up. He was pretty chill," he wrote on Instagram. "Still a bit of a cocky a–hole, but a good dude. Lived large. Spoke fluent Japanese. And was a total Elon Musk fanboy." Robert Carradine, aka Lizzy's dad, also posted a photo of grown up Lizzie and Gordo (Adam Lamberg) on set.
Someone get Netflix on the phone, because we're still holding out hope. That's what Lizzie would do.