Hollywood Reporter

'Firefly' lands in film afterlife

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By Zorianna Kit and Chris Gardner
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, Joss Whedon is about to do the reverse with another one of his creations. Whedon has teamed with Universal Pictures to turn "Firefly," a TV cult favorite, into a feature film.

In addition to having adapted 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.

Whedon is producing the film through his Mutant Enemy Inc. along with studio-based producer Barry Mendell. Mendell, a former agent at UTA, used to represent Whedon. Mutant Enemy president Christopher Buchanan is executive producing. Universal production president Mary Parent is shepherding the project.

"Ever since the show went off the air, our fan base has grown even more," Buchanan said. "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, repped by CAA, continues to be executive producer of "Angel," which he created. His feature film screenplay credits include "Titan A.E.," "Alien: Resurrection" and "Toy Story."

I'm cautiously optimistic. Here's hoping Universal doesn't get cold feet midway thru filming and start cutting the budget.

cool!

Hate to say this, but not too many are going to see this movie (Think returns of less than $40 million). Don't get me wrong - I'll definitely go see it, but I can't see too many people flocking toward the theaters to see a big screen version of something they didn't even want to see for FREE when it was on TV!

Is this the first case of a highly unsuccessful TV show becoming a feature?

And why, oh why, wouldn't Joss want to do a BUFFY feature first? If this movie tanks, he'll probably NEVER get to direct a BUFFY movie!

A cancelled FOX televison show on the big screen.

This makes no sense from a business standpoint. Why put money into developing a failed tv series into a movie?

Does he even want to direct another Buffy movie?

Also discussed in this TV Forum thread...


http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=315614

I don't think it's so much that nobody wanted to watch it for free, as no one knew when or what it was. Perhaps with a good marketing campaign, and a story line that does not require previous knowledge of the show it can make a decent amount of cash. If that does happen perhaps the show will get picked up.

I think the purpose is not to sell it as a spin off movie of a failed tv show but as a stand alone movie property. I for one am stoked as being a fan of the show but i really doubt it'll pick up any threads from the show and will stand on its own. Also, this has to be gratifying for fans of bygone shows who always want them to go in some form or another, like Roswell and Tick.

And I still can't get my project greenlighted. This is ridiculous! Ok, I don't really have a project just yet but greenlighting this idea is beyond belief.

I just soiled myself. I absolutely LOVED the TV show so I'll definitely be watching this on the big screen. And no, I'm not a Whedonite. I've never watched Angel, but I will watch Buffy if I remember to watch it and there isn't anything else on.

Understandable, but even amongst those who made the effort to watch it the senitiment wasn't universally positive. There were those that gave it all the chances, got to know what it was and just didn't like what it was at the core....a sci-fi western.

I know it had a big Internet following, but that is not enough to sustain even a moderately budgeted feature film.

The film could sustain itself, though. Most films start from scratch, with nothing to build on. At least Firefly will start with a small fanbase. Granted, it will also start with the stigma of a film of a failed TV series, but it will likely balance out.

Personally, I think there's a market for a good sci-fi western film. I don't know how large a market there is, but if I saw a sci-fi western being promoted that wasn't related to Joss or a TV series, I'd likely be interested in it.

Knowing how much long-term arc development Joss uses in his TV series, particularly this one, I'm very interested to see how they approach this.

das

I do admit that a sci-fi western is intriguing...I don't think it's been tried since Outland.

I had NO IDEA until I read this thread that "Firefly" was in this sub-genre. The promos made it looks like "Wing Commander: The Series."

I think the movie has a pretty good shot to be successful, depending on how it''s marketed. It's not just a western... it's a western in space! At least it isn't Brisco County: The Motion Picture or something (not that there's anything wrong with that! I love Bruce Campbell) but Firefly would have an uphill climb in getting it presented to people in a way that won't make it seem too outlandish. I say emphasize the humor, but not too much.

sci-fi western? hell yeah! make a BRAVESTARR movie!

eyes of the hawk!
ears of the wolf!
strength of the bear!
speed of the puma!

Am I the only person who has never heard of "firefly"?

No, judging from the ratings it got, and the fact that it only lasted 12 episodes, I'd wager a lot of people haven't heard of Firefly. Luckily I'm not one of them, as Firefly was one of the best Sci-Fi shows to come along in a while.

http://www.fox.com/firefly/