‘Lizzie McGuire’ Showrunner Exits Disney+ Sequel Series

Lizzie McGuire creator Terri Minsky is stepping down as showrunner for Disney+’s sequel series, Deadline has confirmed.

“Fans have a sentimental attachment to ‘Lizzie McGuire’ and high expectations for a new series. After filming two episodes, we concluded that we need to move in a different creative direction and are putting a new lens on the show,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline.

Minsky’s overall deal with Disney Channel will continue, sources say, and more projects are planned under that pact. Lizzie McGuire was the first project under the deal signed last August.

The show is not in production this week, as star Hilary Duff is on her honeymoon, we hear.

In the reimagined version of the sitcom, a sequel to the 2001 Disney Channel series, Lizzie McGuire (Duff) is a 30-year-old millennial navigating life in New York City. Like the original series, it was to include the familiar animated version of a young Lizzie who offers up funny, revealing commentary on what 30-year-old Lizzie is really thinking.

Minsky’s original Lizzie McGuire, starring Duff as 13-year-old Lizzie who is trying to fit in and be popular, was a runaway global hit that turned Duff into a teen idol and a triple-platinum-selling music artist. The sitcom, which aired for four seasons, quickly became Disney Channel’s highest-rated series. It spawned a successful feature, The Lizzie McGuire Movie starring Duff, which grossed $55 million at the global box office, and music releases. It also launched Disney’s first consumer products based on a live-action tween TV series that have earned hundreds of millions of dollars for Disney.

Deadline’s sister pub Variety was first to report Minsky’s exit.

Source: Read Full Article