movieking

'Firefly' Gets New Life on Big Screen
(Thursday, September 04 09:06 AM)

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Joss Whedon's 'Firefly' didn't burn very brightly on television, so he's taking the story to the movies.

Whedon will write and direct a big-screen version of the sci-fi western for Universal Pictures, with production scheduled to begin in early 2004. The movie will mark his feature-film directorial debut.

"Ever since the show went off the air, our fan base has grown even more," Christopher Buchanan, president of Whedon's production company, Mutant Enemy, tells The Hollywood Reporter. "We've had tremendous outpouring from the U.S. and Canada as well as the U.K."

Whedon hopes to reunite the cast of the show and introduce new characters in the feature film. Plot details are being kept quiet for now, but the story will likely be wider in scope while keeping in line with the "Firefly" mythology.

By taking "Firefly" to theaters, Whedon is tracking the opposite course to that of his breakthrough, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which was a not-too-well-received movie before becoming a cult hit on television. "Firefly" had a passionate but too-small audience for FOX to keep it on the air last season; it lasted only 12 episodes.

Universal recently picked up the rights to the project from 20th Century Fox TV, where the series was produced. A DVD set of the series, including three episodes filmed but never aired, is due in December.

Chew

Cool news

das Monkey

Briefly noted in the Dragon*Con thread, but James Marsters announced this to roaring applause this weekend. On a related note, I heard two different guests (I think it was Limon and Hallett, but much of the event is still a blur) note that Nathan Fillion is their favorite person on the planet.

Fox clearly didn't want any part of this series last Fall, sabotaging it at every possible turn, so hopefully Universal is genuinely interested in it and will give it a chance to succeed on the big screen. It should be interesting to see how Joss approaches the direction too.

das

costanza187

i might want to check this out! I never got the chance to see the TV show. This way I can learn stuff, I liked his other work real well to say the least.

Draven

Awesome news.

I was so disappointed when the show went off the air. It was really picking up and had already become "Must See TV" for me.

movieking

I can't wait for the movie, and hope that they get all of the original cast back. I am looking forward to picking up the DVD set when it is released as well. Gotta hear that tribute to Jayne song again!

elektra

WhooHoo!!!! Too bad the non-SciFi channel didn't pick up this show, but if the movie does well, maybe the show will get new life.

bboisvert

I bailed on the show after 2 or 3 episodes last year. I'm a sci-fi fan, a Joss fan, and a quality show fan... but the one thing I'm NOT is a western fan. I really hate the genre, and there's only a couple of western-ish films I'll even tolerate. Firefly was way too heavy on the western look/themes for my taste.

However, I am perfectly willing to give it a 2nd shot on DVD. Being able to watch it in the proper order might help... and I'm also better prepared as to what to expect.


Still, this is great news for Firefly fans. And it makes me much more hopeful that there may still be life in some of my favorite shows (namely, B5 and Farscape).

dgmayor

I'm not a western fan either (nor am I a Joss fan), but I absolutely loved this show. Definately give it another shot.

Darren Garrison

I'll watch the movie when it comes out on DVD, but honestly-- how can they expect to turn a profit making a (obviously high FX-budget) movie based on a TV series that couldn't keep enough of an audience base to run half a season? How many people are going to PAY to watch this when they wouldn't watch it for FREE?

Chew

The best example of this: Police Squad!. It lasted a quarter of a season and they went on to make a trilogy.

If they do it right, no knowledge of the series will even be needed.

elektra

Darren - it's hard to keep an audience when you air the show completely out of order. I don't think it was the quality, but the stupidity.

Draven

Bingo.

Friday night death slot. Fox. Airing episodes out of order. Fox. Minimal marketing. Fox. A lot of marks against it.

It had nothing to do with the quality of the show.

Did I mention Fox?

elektra

Draven - do you think it was - Fox?

bboisvert

2003 -- Futurama and Family Guy are huge hits on DVD and syndication.
2004 -- Firefly hits the big screen.
2005 -- The entire programming department at Fox is sacked.

das Monkey

• Quoth Draven •<HR SIZE=1>Bingo.<HR SIZE=1>

This show was DOA IMO (btw, lol ... ok, I'll stop now). Before an episode even aired, the way they toyed with it and the 3rd season of Dark Angel indicated that it was something they just got stuck with and never really wanted. Whether they intentionally sabotaged it or simply didn't care is unknown, but Firefly could have been the best show in the history of television, and it likely still would have failed given that treatment. I don't know what level of interest a feature film could have, but I certainly don't think its performance on Fox is any kind of solid indicator of ... well ... anything other than Fox's own incompetence.

das

P.S. bboisvert, while I would recommend giving it another chance, as it showed numerous signs of very high quality, it is still very much a "Western." In fact, I think some of its best attributes are related to the genre. So, if you hate the genre that much, Firefly still might not catch your eye ... but I'd give it a few more episodes (in order) to make an ultimate decision.

B.A.

It's great to hear that Fox won't have it's stupid paws all over this one. I'm definitely interested - the show was finally getting really good before they pulled the plug.

nny

Actually, I hate westerns too, but I think you bailed too quickly. IMO, the first few episodes that aired were much more western themed than the rest of the episodes.

bboisvert

Fair enough. I'll pick up the DVD set when it hits stores and give it another shot.

After all, there's always eBay.

KayUK

I'm from the UK and didn't see the point of branding the show with a western theme. The west isn't a part of our, or most other cultures history, so as well it seemed a bit arrogant that every planet in the 'verse would be either a western or post modern L.A. clone.

That said, I fell in love with the series when the ep's picked up about halfway through the series, the characters became as likeable and charismatic as any Joss has created, and I really felt it's loss when the end came.

I love Nathan Fillion's character, having despised his late addition to Buffy 7, and came to enjoy his portrayal very much. OK, seeing his butt naked in that ep helped a bit, but I'd already become a dedicated fan.