Joss Whedon's Firefly movie: SERENITY (no spoilers, please)

Travis_S · 09-04-2003, 03:22 AM

From http://my.aol.com/news/news_story.ps...40143000203508

Quote:

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The short-lived TV series "Firefly" is moving to the big screen.

After taking his "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" feature film and turning it into a successful TV series, "Firefly" creator Joss Whedon is about to do the reverse with his Fox cult hit, which will be released theatrically by Universal Pictures.

In addition to adapting it for the big screen, Whedon will also make his feature directorial debut with the project. Plans are to see "Firefly" go into production in first-quarter 2004.

Universal recently acquired the rights to "Firefly" from 20th Century Fox Television, where Whedon's Mutant Enemy Inc. production company has a television deal.

The action-adventure series was set 500 years in the future and centered on a crew aboard a spaceship. The feature version will incorporate the mythology from the show but will take on a more epic feel. Whedon hopes to enlist the entire cast to come back for the feature, depending on their previous commitments, with new characters added as well.

"Ever since the show went off the air, our fan base has grown even more," said Mutant Enemy president Christopher Buchanan. "We've had tremendous outpouring from the U.S. and Canada as well as the U.K., which just finished a run of 'Firefly' over there. Every comic book and sci-fi convention has had a 'Firefly' presence since the show first aired."

For the series, which ran this past season, Whedon produced 15 hours of television, including a two-hour episode. Three shows never aired on Fox but will likely be featured on the series' DVD release, due out in December. Buchanan said fans created such a demand that DVD presales on Amazon.com sold out within 24 hours.

Whedon's feature film screenplay credits include "Titan A.E.," "Alien: Resurrection" and "Toy Story."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Reuters
Sep 4 2003 1:43AM

Steve Elias · 09-04-2003, 03:33 AM

I am excited by this news, and distracted for the moment from my ongoing disappointment in Fox for cancelling the series. Haven't several of the crew members already signed other deals?

Dan Rudolph · 09-04-2003, 04:27 AM

They're doing other stuff, but they aren't so busy they can't do a movie. They just wouldn't be able to come back to it as a TV series. TV actors do movies all the time.

Dominik Dröscher · 09-04-2003, 11:48 AM

Well, the earliest this could start actual shooting would be next March/April anyway, so I hope this gives Joss and the rest enough time to get things rolling.

Jeff Kleist · 09-04-2003, 12:05 PM

He spent most of his "me" time after Buffy wrapped writing the screenplay

**HTF Ads**

Jasoda · 09-04-2003, 12:15 PM

This is just fantastic!

MickeS · 09-04-2003, 12:16 PM

IMO, this has disaster written all over it.... first time movie director, directing his own script based on a cancelled wstern/sci-fi TV series, starring a bunch of rather unknown TV-actors? I'd be surprised if it even made it into theaters.

Andy Sheets · 09-04-2003, 12:23 PM

Quote:

IMO, this has disaster written all over it.... first time movie director, directing his own script based on a cancelled wstern/sci-fi TV series, starring a bunch of rather unknown TV-actors? I'd be surprised if it even made it into theaters.

I'm surprised they're making too but I'm confident that Joss will do a good job directing it. It was clear based on his direction for Buffy and Angel that he had pushed television as far as possible without actually spilling into feature film territory so it's a logical step for him to start directing actual movies now. As to whether the average filmgoer will actually want to see this, I'm not sure. For all his acclaim, Joss's writing style is more cultish.

Dominik Dröscher · 09-04-2003, 12:24 PM

MickeS: I like the catchphrase "Oscar winning scriptwriter Joss Whedon will give his big screen directional debut with a movie adaptation of his critical-acclaimed TV-series "Firefly"" more.

MickeS · 09-04-2003, 12:29 PM

Change "Oscar winning" to "Oscar nominated (shared credit with 6 other screenwriters)" and you'd be more correct.

Jeff Kleist · 09-04-2003, 12:33 PM

Quote:

IMO, this has disaster written all over it.... first time movie director, directing his own script

Seems to have done pretty well with all the other scripts of his own he's directed. Firefly and Angel are treated like they're shooting a movie anyway. The differences aren't that great between the two.

Quote:

based on a cancelled wstern/sci-fi TV series, starring a bunch of rather unknown TV-actors? I'd be surprised if it even made it into theaters.

Firefly has a nicely sized and quickly growing fanbase. The DVDs aren't even announced formally, and many places like Amazon have sold out their expected allotments. The series has a ton of fans, it's fantastic, and the DVDs will explode it. This is not supposed to be a $100 million picture, Joss was talking a budget well south of $50 million, probably in the $30-40 range tops. What it IS supposed to be is a film that will succed on being well written/structured/acted, and have some great action. These kinds of films have become a watchword in Hollywood after all these $100 million bombs. While Firefly may not get $100 mill box office, if it does $60mil domestic it will be a great success