In an interview at this year’s Comic Con, director Joss Whedon talked about the Collector’s Edition Serenity DVD and a possible big screen sequel. Here are just a few snippets of that interview:
So after all is said and done, was Serenity profitable? Do you consider it a success?
Joss Whedon (JW): It’s a success to the studio or else we wouldn’t be doing a special edition DVD. They actually admitted as much on paper, which you know studios are loathe to do, and that was actually from the theatrical. Theatrical was a disappointment, as everyone knows, but it did go into the black. Then the DVD came and they took me aside and said “We can’t keep these things on the shelf. We want to do a special edition.” And I didn’t want to hear that because I knew it would have to be a truly special edition to make me happy. There had to be a real reason, some real goodies.
So what will the special edition have for us?
JW: We took some stuff from the region two version; the making of – a really beautiful one that’s a bit longer. It has the first read through for the movie with the cast, two years after the show ended. And it has the River Tam sessions, the stuff I did on the internet with Summer. We got to do another commentary too, Nathan, Summer, Ron and Adam – I made sure it didn’t go the same direction as the first commentary. It feels like this version will be something more for the people who would tend to buy both.
So give me hope for a Serenity II
JW: Hope for it probably rests with this DVD.
So then you’re saying we’ve got a chance?
JW: Well it’s probably not being discussed in boardrooms right now, but the fact of the matter is if it makes enough money sooner or later they say “hey, this is money!” Also there are paradigms that are much cheaper, it doesn’t have to be enormous. But on the other hand I’m happy to say all of my actors are working very hard. It’s not the same situation where we all threw in for pennies because we had to finish telling that story. Now that situation might be harder to bring about.
You can read all of Whedon’s interview HERE.
Look for the “Serenity Collector’s Editon DVD” to go on sale August 21, 2007.
Disc 1:
Run Time: 1 Hour 59 Minutes – MPAA Rating: PG-13 -CARA Reasons: For Sequences of Intense Violence & Action, & Some Sexual References.
Bonus Materials: Deleted Scenes – Extended Scenes – Outtakes – Take a Walk on Serenity – The Green Clan
Joss Whedon Introduction – We’ll Have a Fruity Oaty Good Time!
Feature Commentaries – Technical Information – Audio English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0, English DTS 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Picture: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)
Color
Disc 2:
Bonus Disc – Bonus Materials -Deleted Scenes – Technical Information – Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Color
Let me be the first to say… Shiny! 🙂
I guess it’s time to buy another copy of Serenity…
I’ll take any shred of hope I can get.
Sing with me!
Trilogy, O trilogy, I want my trilogy,
Don’t stop at one, Don’t stop at two,
Gorramit, gimme three!
I wonder if this will be different to the Australian double disc special edition we got here. I am a sucker for commentaries though, so I will have to look into it.
New marketing strategy: false hope.
Man, that is a great interview. Will you guys be interviewing Joss again? Why didn’t you ask about Goners?
I hate it when studious release “special editions” of DVDs I already own. I think it’s just a ploy to squeeze more money out of us. It’s a ploy that’s never worked on me before, so do you think I’m going to run out and buy this on the day it’s released…?
HELL YEAH!!!!!!!
Gimme gimme gimme! You can NEVER have too much Firefly!
Just one question – when will it be released in the UK?
Serenity did far better theatrically than it deserved to. It was an awesome film with a horrendous advertising campaign. At least in Australia.
I had to drag people along to watch it. They all loved it but the ads nearly turned me off too and I’m a huge firefly fan.
Yay.
To show my support (and as excuse to watch it again – not that I really need an excuse), I’ve bought every version of Serenity that’s come out on different media, including the PSP UMD version, so here comes another to add to the collection.
Heck with the movie! It was myeh. BRING BACK FIREFLYYYYY. The show that started it all. CMON! Everyone wants it! Gah, theres money to be made.
FIREFLY! Jeesh I loved that show…. Boo to cancellations.
I just bought the HD-DVD version of the movie not that long ago. Will there be a Collector’s Version for the HD-DVD format?
Kind of hard to believe that with all of the success that the Firefly dvds have had on Amazon, Ebay, and all over the virtual and real world, that we would need to buy ANOTHER DVD to get the second Serenity.
I WILL do it gladly, but cmon, it was a show that didnt even run a full season and we are here 5 years later talking about it like Trekkies. Do the powers that be REALLY just need high Collectors Edition sales to recognize that there is a fan base here?
Well said Konrad!
…you can’t take the sky from me.
Oh, how I miss this show! What a great cast of characters with such amazing chemistry…I miss them!
Is there any hope at all for more Firefly? Preferably without Fox ruining it? Seriously, that’s my favorite TV series all time, and I’ve watched a lot of them.
Drew
I don’t care if it’s just commercials for Fruity Oaty Nutty Bars- Bring back that cast and my whole ‘verse’ll be Shiny for it!
I really hope theres another movie!
Ive bought just about everything firefly/serenity related to support the show, so I hope it helps xD
My hopes are not high for Serenity II, but man oh man, would my heart sing if it got approved.
I’ll buy another copy when it’s available on Blu-Ray, but I’m not buying the same movie over and over.
I honestly didn’t know there was this kind of fan base for Firefly/Serenity out there. It’s by far my favorite scifi show/movie, but I’d never dreamed of a Serenity II. So now there is A New Hope! I will gladly face a hoard of Reavers to get to the theatre to watch Serenity II. And why can’t we bring back Firefly as a regular series (but not by Fox) AND have Serenity II? I can’t seem to get enough and I’m heartened to learn that I’m not alone. Oh, and thanks to my beautiful boyfriend for sending me this link!
Though I would also prefer a rebirth of the Firefly series, a sequel to the movie is more hopeful than a sequel to the television series, given Mr. Whedon’s positive relationship with Universal Studios, versus his more difficult relationship with Fox Network, the producers of Firefly. I wish it were otherwise, but Fox is a more difficult company to deal with. Think about it, they are Bush supporters. Whatever your personal preferences, Joss has a very different worlview than that of the Fox corporate culture.
I will add that I have several Firefly/Serenity posts and links on my blog.
http://laurencehunt.blogspot.com/2007/08/rumours-of-serentiy-ii.html
With this being the final season for Battlestar, I wish that someone would pitch bringing Firefly to SciFi channel.
I know that Joss did that right after the cancellation, but times have changed a lot since then.
I really believe that a lot of folks don’t have a clue how big the ‘verse has gotten. Feel free to check out out my collection of links:
http://rooster1056.stumbleupon.com
In Laurence Hunt’s link above, he says “asequel to the movie is more hopeful than a sequel to the television series, given Mr. Whedon’s positive relationship with Universal Studios, versus his more difficult relationship with Fox Network, the producers of Firefly.”
I don’t know how networks work over there in the US, but if Universal are showing Firefly on their HD channel, would it be possible for them to make new Firefly episodes? Or are they only a channel that shows programs made by outside companies?
Just a thought…
I have not been hooked on many shows that I have to see but this is one please! Give me more
I just started watching Firefly and it’s great when a TV series comes along that’s, brilliantly written and superbly cast and acted. Something that, in short, is well crafted and actually worth watching. It’s also refreshing to see a TV series that knows its audience is intelligent and witty, instead of assuming that we’re all dribbling idiots.
So you can image me disappointment when I found out that Firefly had been cancelled, because of some short sighted moronic TV executives. Who where more interested in producing cheap ubiquitous tripe, that can be found on every TV station, in every country on the planet. Rather they should have been paying more attention to producing excellent and memorable programmes, like Firefly.
Please stop thinking of reasons why a second series of Firefly can’t be made and start thinking of ways it can be made
So it’s now 2009 and still no Firefly II series or Serenity II movie. Starts making think that there may never be one… sad thoughts.
The problem with the television networks here in Australia (can’t speak for the rest of the world but I would presume they do similar things) is that they start them at prime time, then move them later and later, changing the days they are on, and then to make sure that it fails, they’ll start playing episodes out of order. It’s like the TV Networks are all working together to purposely MAKE shows like this fail.
Oh no, the show’s not getting the ratings… well, um, how about playing them 1) in order, 2) at the same time each week and 3) on the same day each time. Would help ratings.
I would love them to bring Firefly back. I’d love them to make a second movie that continues on from the first and then leaves us all on a cliff hanger that begins a new series. I’d love to learn more about Shepherd Book, pity they killed him off he was great. Don’t know if there is a way to revive that character but if a sequel is done, I hope they do.
But these are all just hopes and we gotta look at the truth of it all. It’s 2009 now, people aren’t getting younger. If they leave it too long they’ll have to recruit some young girl to play River in any flash backs of things she may have done. …so if you creators are wanting to do this, how about doing it before the actors are being pushed around in wheel chairs or something eh?
What’s on TV at prime time these days? Either yet *another* blooming cop investigation show or yet *another* stupid reality television show, or some freaking get famous by dancing your butt off to lose weigh whilst you sing to get an idol show.
C’Mon!
We need something different and unique. We NEED the return of Firefly. We NEED something to bring us all back to Serenity.
All you need to do is pump adverts at Prime Time. Small flashes. For a month only. People will remember. Spread the word. And then launch your first episode which will be a sequel to the Movie. A 2 hour prime time return of all the cast and glory that will hook people back in to a series.
THEN, you repeat the 2hr first episode on another day before the next week episode for anyone who missed it. BAM! You’re back on tele rocking it twice as hard as the first series since a hell of a lot of the fan base of the first series actually MISSED the series due to television putting it on late or not advertising it.
It’ll work.
It’ll bring in the money.
The relaunch will kick the first series butt.
You gotta remember, a lot of the people who became fans of Firefly didn’t even realise it was on television and that’s why they didn’t go see Serenity on the big screen; they didn’t know! They hired it at their local video store and watched it and though OMG, WTF, this rocks! THEN they went out and hired or bought the series and thought, WTF? When was this put on?
So the relaunch will work, you just need a month of adverts telling people it’s on.
Examples,
Ad 1; Week 1
** Black screen **
** Serenity zooms in to screen losing something from it’s hull. **
>> Mal, “What was that?”
>> Wash, “I don’t know, do you think they missed us?”
**Mal looks directly at the camera**
>> Mal, “Not sure, did they?”
** Black screen **
** Big words, “SHINY” appear **
Ad 2; Week 2
** Black screen **
** Big words, “SHINY” appear **
** Camera zooms out of blackness with big words which becomes the iris of one of River’s eyes. **
>> River, “We’re back”
** Camera zooms at epic speed into River’s eye revealing the reflection of Simon which then becomes the shot of Simon **
>> Simon, “We’re back? Back from where? Where’d we go? River?”
** Camera pans around to door way to reveal Kaylee’s head popping around the corner and into the frame of the doctors medical bay **
>> Kaylee, “Ooo we’re back? Shiny!”
** Kaylee smiles and claps her hands together in excitement **
** Black screen **
** Big words, “WE’RE BACK” **
Ad 3; Week 3
** Black screen **
** Big words, “WE’RE BACK **
** Jayne cocks his gun **
>> Mal, “Jayne, it’s only a small job…”
** Camera checks Jayne out equipped with everything in the ‘verse that he can carry **
>> Mal, “Grenades, really?”
>> Jayne, “Don’t you talk to me about grenades… I seem to remember a time that I wanted to bring them and you wouldn’t let me… and did we need them?”
>> Mal, “Lose the Grenades.”
>> Jayne, “Seriously? Awww.”
** Black Screen **
** Big Words: “Serenity: The Series” **
** Smaller words fade in below:
Ad 4; Week 4 (the week before the 2hr relaunch event)
Rotate 3 adverts:
Ad 1 of 3
** Big Words: “Serenity: The Series” **
** Smaller words fade in below:
Cue introduction to Firefly original series; you can’t take the sky from me song.
Update images and scenes to the current look of the crew and ship etc.
** Fade to Black and repeat time and day it begins **
Ad 2 of 3
** Big Words: “Serenity: The Series” **
** Smaller words fade in below
Cue introduction to first movie about the what happened to the world, cut it to match advert size. This’ll inform those who haven’t seen anything what it’ll be about peaking their interests and remind those who have seen the movie.
** again fade to black with starting time and title **
Ad 3 of 3
** Big Words: “Serenity: The Series **
** Smaller time and day it begins **
Cue in some funky new stuff River does with swords and or guns which adds the OMG Cool factor for some of the younger ones who may not have yet seen Firefly or Serenity.
** Black screen, title and starting time again.
That should cover a lot of different ground in short adverts for a month leading up to the initial return without giving away a single thing about the new movie/first episode of new series. The key will be advertising it coming, once it is seen to be coming, word will spread and people will watch. Just need the networks to freaking keep it ON at the same time every week. If they work with you, all will make money and fans will be happy.
But that’s just my thoughts, maybe the networks don’t wanna make money off of good stuff any more?
its 2010, theres no firefly, no serenity, and thus nothing shiny
excuse me whilst i slit my wrists…..