Hilary Duff Confirms That Lizzie McGuire Reboot is Not Moving Forward

Though production had already begun on a revival of the hit series Lizzie McGuire, featuring the return of star Hilary Duff to the role, things apparently went south as disagreements over what the show would be about and include began to become public. No update on its fate has been released since the summer but now Duff has taken to Instagram to confirm that the show is no longer moving forward. In a lengthy post, Duff wrote about what the character and series meant to her and fans around the world, and that despite the efforts of all involved the new version of the series (originally slated as a Disney+ exclusive) wouldn’t be happening

“I’ve been so honored to have the character of Lizzie in my life,” Duff’s post reads. “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 everywhere 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 with her. I’m very sad, but I promise everyone tried the best and the stars just didn’t align. Hey now, this is what 2020s made of.”

Filming on the series began earlier this year, before the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic shut down sets around the world, and several episodes were even completed. In the end, Disney reportedly didn’t like the more mature content that series creator and showrunner Terri Minsky and Duff wanted to infuse the revival with in the first place. Minsky exited the series after these episodes were completed, though later made it clear that she hoped the show could transition to Hulu instead of Disney+.

“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. 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.”

Sadly it seems like that decision was axed by the brass at the house of mouse. Perhaps no announcement about the series at last week’s Disney Investor Day should have been a clue to fans that the series was in jeopardy.