Firefly Season 2 Website Launched?

So the big buzz lately has been around the launching of the Firefly Season 2 website. I can see you're baffled but hopeful expression from here- and hear your barely restrained squeaks and shouts of joy. However, you know it's too good to be true, right? Well here's the scoop, thanks to the good folks at Moviehole who dug to the bottom of this wild news.

To start with, are Fox or Joss Whedon involved with this project? The answer is no...or at least, not yet. The story here is that of an ambitious independent publishing company highly interested in bringing a second season to the fatefully short lived show. Ace Underhill, a representative of the company, told Moviehole that he has been in contact with cast and crew from the show, as well as Joss's people (although not Joss himself, as the man is mad busy, like always). According the Underhill, the big goal here is to obtain the intellectual property rights from Fox, and then let the rest of the pieces fall into place. It's no secret that Joss remains interested in the property, and Underhill hopes that if the rights were in the hands of a company also committed to the project, action would happen.

The plan is to obtain the rights, produce the show at their own cost, and then sell it to the highest bidder, similar to how many independent films find licensing. The website even raises the possibility of single episode DVD purchases (and of course a DVD set) and computer downloading, in addition to the traditional cable/satellite TV options. What if Joss doesn't dig the idea? Underhill says: "yes, even if after spending X amount of capital and time securing the rights if Joss wants no part, then I will drop it. What's the point if he's got no input for his own creation?"

An ambitious project to be sure- but there's no indication yet of how successful these folks may be.  Joss Whedon is an inventive and resourceful man; I wouldn't be at all surprised if he signed on board with a venture such as this. I think Underhill is right, however, in identifying the fight to obtain the rights to the property as the major difficulty. If the rights remain with Fox, it doesn't matter how interested the big J or anyone else is in making it happen. We here at Cinematical plan to keep a close eye on this project, so stay tuned for further updates!