The long-awaited “Lizzie McGuire” revival is dead.
Hilary Duff announced on Wednesday that the Disney+ series, which was set to pick up with the iconic character on the cusp of her 30th birthday, has been officially shelved after multiple delays.
“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,” Duff wrote in a heartfelt Instagram note. “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.”
In her message, Duff said that it was essential that the show would honestly reflect the realities facing the adult version of the character.
“I want any reboot of Lizzie to be honest and authentic to who Lizzie would be today. It’s what the character deserves,” she continued. “We can all take a moment to mourn the amazing woman she would have been and the adventures we would’ve taken with her. I’m very sad, but I promise everyone tried their best and the stars just didn’t align.”
Duff signed off with a riff on her alter-ego’s famous song, writing, “Hey now, this is what 2020s made of,” adding a jokey emoji.
The “Lizzie McGuire” revival was placed on a production hiatus in February with two episodes already completed, after the original creator of the beloved ’00s sitcom, Terri Minsky, stepped down as showrunner.
At the time, Disney+ announced it planned to “move in a different creative direction” and put a “new lens on the show” amid reports that Minsky and the streaming service clashed over just how grown up this version of Lizzie should be. Sources told Variety that Disney+ pushed for the revival to “appeal to kids and families” and be more “akin to the original series.”
Duff broke her silence over Minsky’s exit and the clash behind the scenes later that month, posting an emotional plea on Instagram for Disney to move the show to Hulu.
“I feel a huge responsibility to honor the fans’ relationship with LIZZIE who, like me, grew up seeing themselves in her,” Duff wrote at the time, adding that a PG vision of the show would be “doing a disservice to everyone by limiting the realities of a 30 year old’s journey.”
“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,” she added.
The revival was announced by Duff herself at Disney Plus’s D23 Expo event in August 2019, 15 years after the original series went off the air following 65 episodes on the Disney Channel.
The character also made the jump to the big screen in a successful 2003 spinoff film, “The Lizzie McGuire Movie,” which grossed around $55 million at the box office.