Is 'Gossip Girl' a reboot, remake or sequel? Creator says it has ‘echoes’ of original
We all know by this point even if we weren't particularly fans of the original, that 'Gossip Girl' will be back on our screens shortly. We know that the fashion and the faces will be different but one question that seems to have everyone tripping on their stilettos is whether the all-new 'Gossip Girl' is a remake, a reboot, or a sequel.
Before we get down to answering that, it seems clear at this point at least that the original stars such as Blake Lively and Leighton Meester will not be a part of the all-new 'Gossip Girl' at least not in any significant manner. If you've had a giant fashion-sized hole in your heart and your watchlist all these years, well we're suspecting that other fashionable teen dramas such as 'Elite', and 'Riverdale' have kept you busy. But now back to the matter at hand on what exactly the new 'Gossip Girl' is.
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First of all, before we get down to whether the new 'Gossip Girl' is a remake or a reboot it might be helpful to understand what these terms that are generally thrown about by Hollywood heavyweights mean. A remake generally honors its source material and does its best to pay homage to it. A reboot on the other hand reimagines the source material into something new. The makers of the new 'Gossip Girl' many of whom worked on the original are calling it a reboot since the series is now set about 12 to 13 years after the original.
While it is still set at Constance Billard and St Jude's, the cast of characters is entirely different and their approach to fashion, finance and life, in general, represents the times that we currently live in, for example, increased sensitivity to diversity, to the Black Lives Matter movement and to income inequality. The showrunner of the 'Gossip Girl' reboot Joshua Safran in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter said, "It's just a new look at this particular society in New York, the idea being that society changes constantly. So how has this world changed, how has social media and its effect changed? All of those things allow us to look at the world 12 years on as opposed to just redoing the story."
But while this may be a reboot the show creators want it to feel more like an evolution, an evolution with echoes of the original because let's face it the original was pretty great too. Joshua Safran says, "The tone is different. At first that scared me, but all of us really want this to be its own thing, so I've embraced it. I really wanted this to feel like an extension and in no way a reboot. So it's an evolution of the story, not a retread. That said, there are echoes. Constance and St Judes are still Constance and St Judes after all."
To catch just how 'Gossip Girl' has evolved with the new social media landscape and indeed the world around us, you can catch the reboot of 'Gossip Girl' on July 8 on HBO Max.