Rest in peace, Lizzie McGuire revival. The highly anticipated reboot series filmed its first two episodes before being scrapped by Disney in 2020. Since its cancellation, Hilary Duff has revealed some of the show’s plot details which sparked creative differences between the network and the show’s writers.
Keep reading for everything we know about the plot of the Lizzie McGuire reboot.
What Was the Plot of the ‘Lizzie McGuire’ Reboot?
ICYMI, Hilary played the title role in the original Disney Channel series, which aired from 2001 to 2004, and in The Lizzie McGuire Movie. News that the beloved character would be returning to TV first broke during the D3 Expo in August 2019.
The reimagined version of the show was set to follow an adult Lizzie, as she lives her life in New York City.
“She’s getting ready to celebrate her 30th birthday,” Hilary teased to Variety in August 2019. Original cast members Jake Thomas (Matt McGuire), Hallie Todd (Jo McGuire), Robert Carradine (Sam McGuire) and Adam Lamberg (Gordo) were all set to return for the show.
“My character was moving back home with her parents because she caught her soon-to-be fiancé cheating on her, and she was falling flat on her face at the moment and being like, ‘I need to pivot because everything that I thought was wasn’t, and I’m turning 30. What the f–k?’” Hilary told Cosmopolitan in January 2022 of what Lizzie would have been like in the revival.
In January 2024, one of the show’s writers, Jonathan Hurwitz, revealed new plot details in a TikTok video — including one spicy scene that Disney did *not* like.
Following Lizzie’s return to her hometown after her breakup, Lizzie was meant to have a quick rebound with childhood crush Ethan Craft (Clayton Snyder). Production on the reboot was halted before they filmed the third episode with the storyline.
“The third episode would’ve opened with Lizzie waking up in Ethan’s bed,” according to Jonathan. “Animated Lizzie pops up, and she has this little checklist—like a to-do list,” he revealed. “Ethan is on the list, and she checks it off. And I think she says something like, ‘Well, checked that box.’ Dramatic pause. ‘Twice.’”
The writer guessed “that moment was probably one of” the storylines that Disney wasn’t comfortable with.
Was Miranda In the ‘Lizzie McGuire’ Reboot?
As revealed by Jonathan, the writer from the cancelled reboot revealed Lizzie’s BFF Miranda Sanchez, played by LaLaine, was set to return!
“We didn’t want fans of the original to feel like we’d abandoned that Miranda-Lizzie relationship,” Jonathan said in a TikTok video. “So we were absolutely planning a storyline for her. We talked a lot about adult Miranda, and her being a musician was part of the discussion, so someone who’s on tour with a band.”
He continued, “Her being queer was also part of the discussion, so you likely would have met the woman she was in a relationship with.”
Why Did They Cancel the ‘Lizzie McGuire’ Reboot?
In January 2020, the show was put on hold after original creator, Terri Minsky, stepped away from the revival. Ultimately, the network cancelled the show due to creative differences.
“Fans have a sentimental attachment to Lizzie McGuire and high expectations for a new series,” Disney said in a statement to Variety at the time. “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.”
In May 2022, Hilary told Women’s Health that she thinks Disney+ got “spooked” by the revival, and they frequently clashed over how mature Lizzie should be. “She had to be 30 years old doing 30-year-old things,” she said.
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