In 2019, early 2000s kids were thrilled when it was announced that a Lizzie McGuire revival TV series was in the works at Disney Plus – and then heartbroken when the project was scrapped in December 2020. However, Hilary Duff, the star who played the titular character in the iconic kids show, recently gave us a glimmer of hope (well, kind of) for a new chapter in Lizzie McGuire’s story in the far future – saying that the IP isn’t completely “dead” yet.
In an interview on Variety’s ‘Just for Variety’ podcast, the actor, who is currently starring in the sequel series to How I Met Your Mother titled How I Met Your Father, dished on her thoughts about Lizzie McGuire. “I don’t think it’s dead, and I don’t think it’s alive,” Duff said. “I think it’s just kind of sitting there.” The star then went on to say that before 2019, she had rejected all Lizzie McGuire reboot offers until a sudden change of heart. “And then one day, I was like, yup. There’s much love there,” she said.
After filming two episodes of the first proposed revival in 2020, the Lizzie McGuire reboot was cancelled. According to Variety, this was due to Disney rejecting the idea of Lizzie’s come back being more adult instead of leaning towards a tween demographic – putting the studio and Duff at a creative standstill.
However, despite no reboot being in the works currently, as Duff’s comments hint at, all the beloved material from the series is still there – waiting to be made into something in the future. But, before fans start jumping to conclusions, nothing is confirmed, and Duff herself will unlikely be personally involved with a Lizzie McGuire project anytime soon. Currently, the actor has her hands full with the comedy series How I Met Your Father and is happy in her new role.
“There’s always struggle with something that’s so loved and important to so many people,” Duff explained. “I just keep my heart and my mind open. I don’t think that How I Met Your Father would’ve come about if Lizzie had happened.”
Only time will tell if Lizzie will ever get her big reboot. In the meantime, you can take a trip down memory lane with our list of the best ’90s TV shows of all time.