Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon has absolutely no interest in taking his hit TV franchise to the big screen- not yet, anyway.

The acclaimed auteur- whose 1992 Buffy film starring Kristy Swanson was slayed by critics and moviegoers alike (and reportedly bore little resemblance to his original vision)- admits that he'd stake himself through the heart before undertaking such a project.

"I don't believe that I could give a movie the kind of attention that I would want to while the series is in production," Whedon tells TV Guide Online. "Not that it wouldn't be fun, but 22 [episodes] a year is plenty. It would have to be after the show [ends], à la Star Trek, in the future."

Although Whedon does acknowledge that the idea of a Buffy film frequently is talked about, he insists that when and if it happens, it's going to be done right. "I'm not going to slap something together and put it on a movie screen," he says. "If I make a movie of Buffy, it's going to be because I have a story that can't be told on television."

As it is, Whedon believes that his Buffy cast would bear their fangs at the mere mention of a film version. "I doubt very much that all of my actors would want to be playing these parts on their hiatus when they're already playing them 10 months out of the year."

-Michael Ausiello