Hilary Duff Wants A More Adult Take Of ‘Lizzie McGuire’ Revival
Variety.com: Hilary Duff has posted a statement asking that the planned revival of “Lizzie McGuire” be moved from Disney Plus to Hulu.
“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 wrote on Instagram. “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.”
Her statement can be read in full below. Variety has reached out to Disney for comment and will update this story should they respond.
Duff’s comments come after Variety exclusively reported on the behind-the-scenes issues that saw “Lizzie McGuire” creator and revival showrunner Terri Minsky be removed from that role on the show. Duff and Minsky wanted to do a more adult version of Lizzie for the revival, while Disney wants a show that would appeal to kids and families, something more akin to the original series. Sources say Disney was initially on board with Minsky and Duff’s take, but the company decided to move in a different direction with the series after the first two episodes were completed.
Duff had remained mostly quiet about the problems with the show, but late Tuesday night she posted a screenshot to her Instagram story of a news headline about the planned Disney Plus “Love, Simon” series. Now titled “Love, Victor,” the show was moved this week to Hulu after it was deemed not “family-friendly” enough for the Disney-branded streamer. In her post, Duff circled the words “family-friendly” in the headline and wrote above it “Sounds familiar.”
“Love, Victor” is not the only show to get moved from Disney plus to Hulu. The recently launched “High Fidelity” series starring Zoe Kravitz was originally set up at Disney Plus before ultimately landing at Hulu, which is now controlled by Disney after the company struck a deal with Comcast for control of the service.