I was going to put this in GQ, but I think the movie aspect supersedes the factual question aspect. I’m not really sure.
Anyway… I’ve seen people mention “I hope the movie is succesful enough to give us the show back”, or something similar, but no one has actually said one way or another whether this would be practical or likely.
Is there a history for anything like that? For a live action show to get a second chance years down the road, one that only had a short run to begin with? What’re the actual chances we’d see Firefly back for another try as a series?
If the movie sales (including DVD) are successful enough, then why wouldn’t some network pick up the option? If there’s money to be made then there has to be at least a possibility. Or maybe I’m just thinking wishfully
It wasn’t “years down the road” but Baywatch was canceled after one season on NBC and went on to be perhaps the most successful show ever in syndication. And, dear god, there’s a Baywatch movie in the works.
I don’t think Joss wants it back as a series, really, and considering the events that occur in the movie, I am not sure it would work well as a TV series anymore.
You mean Wash dying? That leaves lots of stories left to tell. The Alliance wasn’t broken, or even significantly weakened, by the revelation of the Reaver origins. I think there’s plenty more he could go into, the only character arc that really was closed by the movie was Rivers and even she’s still messed up. Sure the character dynamics were shifted at the end of the movie but we only had those characters with us for 14 episodes anyway, there’s no reason change is bad at this point.
That being said wasn’t there some clause in the contract with Fox that if it was cancelled he couldn’t shop it elsewhere as a TV series for something like a decade? Much as another series would be nice I agree that the chances are not good.
Heh, and the spinoffs. Oh my, the spinoffs. IIRC, one spinoff had David Hasselhof’s character as a private eye (Baywatch Nights)
But yeah, as far as Firefly is concerned, I’m not sure if I want another TV show about this bunch of characters (not that I’d complain, and another movie or five would be nice )
I think it’d be kinda neat to have some stuff about other folks in the universe. Other smugglers, maybe something about the alliance military, something like that. Would anyone want to see a show or a movie about Monty’s gang?
I don’t think there’s even a remote possibilty of a show with this cast (though some spin off might not be out of the question).
I think if the sales are good enough they’ll do another movie or two. I believe they almost didn’t get Gina Torres back for this movie as she aparently has a career – which while not hard to believe I can’t remember seeing her outside of a small role in one of the Matrix films, Angel and that gosh awful Cleopatra 2525 series.
I think everyone else is trying to move on with their careers as well, but if there’s bucks to be made, some agreements will be made – though unlikely at a budget for a televison program.
They are contractually obligated for two more movies, though, if someone decides to make them.
Joss has said that he wants to concentrate on movies for the time being. If there’s ever going to be another series, it’ll have to be on a network that Joss trusts (i.e.: not Fox) and after he decides that he’s made enough movies.
My father, who became a fan at the same time I did, has an unshakable believe that Sci-fi channel is planning to pick up the series. He claims this is why they’re they’re showing the syndication, because they want to get people interested in buying it.
I wish I had his optimism, though I keep telling myself “Why not? They’ve got 2 stargate shows, for gods sake”
Just the opposite: When they cancelled it, Fox released any claim on the property to allow Whedon to shop it to other networks, but he couldn’t find any takers. So far as I’m aware, he has total control over the property at this point.
At the risk of being whooshed, the new BSG show is already in its second season, on the Sci-Fi Channel. It’s really, really good, too.
The SFX and camerawork on the show also bear a strong stylistic resemblance to Firefly (the Galactica even comes with it’s own cute mechanic girl). In fact, in the pilot miniseries, you can briefly see the Serenity flying by during one of the early scenes on Caprica.
That’s because Zoic does the effects for both shows. What surprised me was that Ron Moore has apparently never seen Firefly, despite using the same effects house and calling for the same “found footage” and “no sound in space” style that characterized Firefly. You’d think someone at Zoic would’ve at least pointed out to him that it’s been done before, and recently.
I don’t think there’s much chance that ‘Firefly’ will come back as a series that picks up where it left off with the same characters.
That said, I’m virtually certain that we haven’t seen the end of these characters or the Firefly 'verse. There’s just too large a fanbase for this property to be dropped. So think of the other possibilities for continuing stories in the Firefly future history:
[ul]
[li]An animated series[/li][li]A miniseries, maybe on a network like HBO[/li][li]A spinoff showcasing one or two of the characters[/li][li]A spinoff with completely new characters set in the same 'verse, perhaps with guest appearances by some of the originals.[/li][li]Direct to DVD movie.[/li][li]Comics[/li][li]Novelizations. Hell, the Star Trek and Star Wars universes have spun off entire genres of books. I don’t see why the Firefly 'verse couldn’t do the same.[/li][li]Future theatrical releases[/ul][/li]
Between all of those, there will be more stories. I just don’t know what form they’ll take, or how much involvement the original creative team (Whedon, Minear, etc) will have with them. Of course, just setting stories in the same universe is no guarantee that they’ll be good. We might just be inundated with second-rate junk from hack writers, and we’ll wish it had never happened.
It’s a failure. I’d call it a flop if it was higher profile. Universal might make their money back on DVDs and when their share of the international box office comes in. Maybe. Rumor now is that this film was just Universal cozying up to Whedon, who’ll they’ll use on more audience-friendly projects (They’ve already signed him for “Goners”).
Firefly has twice failed to connect with mainstream audiences. It won’t get a third chance. Time to give it up.
I don’t believe that it will return as a series or even as another film. The fanbase is much too small right now and episodes and films (even at $40 million) cost too much to invest in hopes of finding a larger, more mainstream audience.
That being said, Firefly now being attached to NBC/Universal with all of their channels could give it another chance in trying to find that audience. Hollywood is a strange town so anything could happen.
Myself, being a fan of the series and the film, kind of hope that they stop while they’re ahead. The series should have been around for at least a complete season, more like two or three but that isn’t what happened. Fortunately, Whedon was given the opportunity to finish some of the main storylines with the film and he did not disappoint.
As much as I like to see more stories of Firefly and her crew, I must rather see it leave on a high note. I like to think of it as a very long, and very good mini-series.
It’s important to note that the International boxoffice figures on that page were last updated Oct 10, just after the opening weekend in the U.K. I don’t have any idea how much it’s done since then, but I would imagine that number will go up to at least $6 million or more. The numbers on that page also do not include the Friday boxoffice.
My guess is that Serenity will do 2-3 million this weekend. Add that to the missing 2-3 million in foreign sales, and we’re probably close to $30 million so far, with other world markets yet to see the premier.
For being its 3rd week in release (2nd week internationally), this isn’t horrible. It’s not fantastic, but I believe it’s about in line with industry estimates before it was released.
If it finishes its theatrical run with a worldwide gross of 50-60 million, the movie will be seen as a modest success, because you can expect DVD sales to be good, and maybe great. If the Firefly box set can sell 500,000 copies (and some estimates are close to 1 million copies), then the movie can sell a lot more.
Whether there’s a sequel or not is going to depend on a number of things. For example, if any of the actors have a ‘breakout’ year, then they become a commercial property, and if they are contractually obligated to Universal for a Serenity sequel, then that may push the decision over the top. Likewise, if Whedon’s name as a director and writer of movies reaches A-list stature, then his name alone becomes a boxoffice draw. If he’s contractually obligated to do a Serenity movie, the studio might use that to keep him in the fold.
A lot also depends on how much Joss really cares about the Firefly universe, and how hard he pushes to keep it alive. If he makes a big hit picture (say, “Wonder Woman”), and gets big name recognition, then the next time Universal pitches a movie to him he might say, “I’ll do it, as long as you tie it to a Serenity Sequel.”
Also, the studio could be thinking about the value of the Firefly universe as a franchise. If it develops a hard-core fan base even half the size of the Star Trek fanbase, then there’s a lot of money to be made with a trilogy, because you then have the opportunity to re-sell all three movies in a box set, special editions, editions with character figures, yada yada. To say nothing of action figures, model kits, and all the other merchanizing.
So I wouldn’t slam the door on the notion of a sequel. I don’t think you’ll see an immediate green-light for a trilogy like we would have gotten had the movie done $100 million domestically, but maybe a year or two down the road the issue will be revisited.
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