A Serenity Sequel?
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Universal, RumorMonger, Fandom, Scripts, Joss Whedon, Remakes and Sequels
IGN is claiming an exclusive scoop regarding the possibility of a return to the Firefly universe for Joss Whedon and company. According to IGN’s sources, Universal was (not surprisingly) quite disappointed in the performance of Serenity, but continued strong sales of the TV series Firefly on DVD have encouraged them to produce a second movie. This one, however, would be on a thin budget, and produced for (Universal owned) Sci-Fi Channel. Joss Whedon’s sources denied the rumor, when IGN contacted them. The news, if coming from someone inside the Universal tent, may not have developed into solid enough plans for Whedon’s people to be contacted about it yet. Or, it may just be a false rumor.
Whedon fans, is this welcome news? I presume that fans will be happy to have any further developments from the ill-fated series. It is a made for TV movie, but the series started out (and was at its best) on television, so would this cause any real problems? Or would it be better to simply let the world go gentle into that good night?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-01-2005 @ 11:03PM
Finished.Law.School said...
The first one looked like it belonged on the Sci-Fi channel...it looked very low budget and performed accordingly.
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12-01-2005 @ 11:43PM
Hilary said...
Say WHAT now? It was the best sci-fi of the year, without a doubt, and this is coming from someone who was DRAGGED there.
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12-02-2005 @ 12:20AM
bgdc said...
Easily in the top ten for films made this year. I've seen about 50-60 films at the theater this year and shockingly Serenity was among the best.
If it comes back to the theater or TV, I will watch it. It's that good.
FWIW, I hate westerns and I hate sci-fi yet I still dug that movie. Go figure...
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12-02-2005 @ 4:18AM
Buddy said...
Of course, this could be a rumor. And nobody will say anything -- from Joss to Universal -- until all the dotted lines are signed on the contracts. Plus, keep in mind, 20th Century Fox (the production company and not the broadcast network) may also be a player, since they still own the rights to Firefly and the television landscape. Yes, a weekly series and a 2-hour TV-movie are two different things. The best thing is: any movement for the Firefly/Serenity franchise is welcomed news.
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12-02-2005 @ 4:19AM
Scott Weinberg said...
I'll wait till its confirmed or denied, but as a huge FF/S fan, I'd be very happy to see a TV movie or two, given that Whedon and all the (remaining) cast members return.
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12-02-2005 @ 4:30AM
Zarquon said...
I really don't care exactly what medium a new firefly story might be in. I'd be happy with a shadow puppet production! The best part is the storytelling/writing (which I trust would be of the caliber we're used to), rather than fancy effects. And the actors, they''re also the best part; I would be disappointed if any of them were recast.
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12-02-2005 @ 7:05AM
Ian said...
I'm actually in negotiations with Universal and the Whedon camp to produce a shadow puppet production. Of course, if you check with them, they'll deny it.
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12-02-2005 @ 9:29AM
Tenken said...
Zarquon is right, it's the writing that makes this show so special. I actually wish they went less over-the-top with the film, take that awful Blade Runner-esque city for example. So yah, I would be all for a SFC. It's guaranteed to be better than those crap camp films they're producing.
Honestly, if they just drop one (or even BOTH) of those crappy Stargate shows, and maybe lay off the camp tv films for a bit, they could just maybe afford to keep the series afloat in its original form. Look at what they can do with BSG, surely someone will help them finance Firefly the way the BBC helped with Galactica.
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12-02-2005 @ 9:42AM
Nathan said...
Gosh, you spaztards sure love your plucky dialogue, your cliched characters, and your Hasbro-toys-filmed-in-front-of-a-sheet special effects, don't you?
I really think Cinematical should establish a "No Whedon" version of the site. I'd pay a subscription.
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12-02-2005 @ 12:27PM
The Jeremy said...
Hey, if SciFi dumped both *Stargate* shows, the first thing they should do is acquire the rights to bring new *Doctor Who* to the States and enter into a strong co-production relationship with the BBC to boost the episode count above the current 13 per season/series.
With that having been said, I hope this *SciFi Original Picture* sequel will be budgeted higher than the usual $1 million that SciFi kicks down. Seeing that SciFi's budgeting on most of those throwaway movies only grant it unlimited repeat rights on its channel here in the States and not foreign or home video sales, I'm sure the budget for the continuation movies would be higher since Universal would be keeping the other rights to theirselves and not sharing them with anyone else (well, maybe Fox). $10 million would be a good price considering Universal was able to do the 1996 *Doctor Who* telefilm (aka "The TV Movie")for $5 million then and with decent effects. We should remember that with that property, Universal produced that flick, the BBC got a co-production credit (and U.K./European television and home video rights), and Fox paid for the budget for the U.S. television rights until December 31st, 1999.
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12-05-2005 @ 6:54PM
B said...
As a recently converted Browncoat, I'm all for Serenity/Firefly returning in any form. Large screen, small screen, it doesn't matter to me. If you keep flying, I'll keep watching!
Sci-Fi is definitely the best place for it! Galactica was a fantastic suprise, and I'd rather have Sci-Fi use their production dollars for funding Serenity/Firefly than those cheesy made for tv movies like Frankenfish!
Keep Serenity flying!!
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