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Joss Whedon's Firefly Coming To The Big Screen
lhouk281 writes "According to this article in the Hollywood Reporter, Universal is turning Firefly into a movie. Firefly lives!" This show deserved a chance to run a full season. If this comes out, I'll sure be there opening weekend.
So, we like he MPAA and its members today?
Just be sure to wear the gold uniform when you beam down -- you know what happens when you wear the red one.
Firefly is a prime example of how Fox is populated by PHBs. Fabulous show, great concept .. and they show the episodes out of order and at random intervals so the audience just can't get into it. They could have capitalized on Farscape's cancellation [SciFi: A channel for SF fans run by PHBs], but nooooooooo!
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
I only got to see two episodes of Firefly. Pity, I did enjoy it. It just wasn't on at a time when I could remember to sit down and watch it, and I still have to build a linux PVR... so it got missed.
How many episodes were made, anyhow? It really was a rather entertaining little show. Perhaps a bit too geek-targeted in some ways for the majority of society, but certainly fun.
... "I read part of it all the way through." -- Movie Mogul Sam Goldwyn (and some slashdot readers)
Anyone know when the first "season" is coming out on DVD?
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
--
'Firefly' lands in film afterlife
Joss Whedon
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."
The IT section color scheme sucks.
My god, man. If "Everybody Loves Raymond" (lies! The title is a LIE! I hate that fucking show) can go on for how long now?, then Firefly deserves a run at least as long as Buffy.
But, what do you expect? Great show, great premise, nice twist on typical plotlines, great writing, great "settings", great girls er actors and actresses.. It had all the recipes to be axed.
"Hey, this show is too good. Gotta give it the axe."
Remember, America doesn't want quality. We want convenience and entertainment that doesn't require thinking. Hence, Jackass.
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
This show deserved a chance to run a full season.
A full season? Don't be too generous now. Most good shows don't start to click until at least the 2nd season. Try watching first season next generation, or Seinfeld. It's so wooden it looks like the actors have underwear 3 sizes too small. I liked Firefly, but even if the network didn't, they should give it at least a couple of seasons to bring in some numbers. Even Enterprise is dumping, and they haven't given up on it yet.
lower costs to own a DVD?
Are you kidding? With the exception of video games, DVDs represnt the best value in entertainment. What would *you* call a fair price to own a DVD?
Everytime I get interested in a program, it gets cancelled, usually without closure. Sometimes the cancellation occurs on a cliff-hanger, like "John Doe". That's a clear indication that the studios have no respect for the viewers; why should I have any respect for them? If they are not going to make a multi-year commitment, why should I?
Firefly, FarScape, John Doe are all recent casualties. I'm pissed. I've decided to drop back, and wait for a few seasons before I start watching any new program. If it doesn't survive, then at least I wasn't impacted. If it's getting good buzz after a few seasons, then I'll watch the reruns or DVD to catch up.
If this means that new shows won't get done, that's fine too. I'm old enough to know there are better things I should be spending my time on anyway (even /. qualifies in that regard). :-)
Can You Say Linux? I Knew That You Could.
You sell out pre-orders by knowing how many copies the publisher is going to print, and of that number know how many copies you are going to be allocated and then discover that that number is less than the number of copies that people have pre-ordered. At that point you have two choices. Tell people that they are going to have to look elsewhere for copies, or tell the publisher that you would be happy to sell a lot more copies for them, perhaps even let them know that the number of copies they allocated to you went to pre-orders the first day, and well, it sure is nice doing business with people who have a product that our customers are interested in.
-Rusty
You never know...
1. They weren't the top female hierarchy. There was explicit prejudice against her and her profession. The guild was doing better than the equivalent profession today, but it's not like they were running things.
2. They were in disguise.
3. You're posting on Slashdot.
My video compression blog
They should put shows like this on the internet, and charge a buck to download and/or stream each episode. At least then, the show can control its own destiny, and the fans can watch it any way they want to.
Hell, I'd pay a buck an episode for it, even if they left the commercials in.
What amazingly good news. Woot! For any who've not yet seen it, be sure to pick up the DVD of the first (and only, grumble) season when it hits the shelves this December. The DVD *will* have the unaired episodes and lots of commentary and gag reels and all shown in the correct order (Fox sucks so bad it isn't funny). Amazon was pre-soldout last I checked. For any who don't know why Firefly didn't make it, one phrase should answer it "Fox are Idiots". The idiots at Fox preempted the show for sports programming more for over half of it's episodes. Then there was the 2-hour premiere which cost something like 6 million dollars. The premiere introduced all the characters and set the story. Fox execs decided they didn't want to show the premiere first, they wanted it to be the 10th episode of the season. and had to be reworked into a "flashback episode" for that context... What a bunch of wankers, but we all know that already. The article says Universal bought a rights transfer from Fox, perhaps they'll never again influence anything to do with it. One can only hope that when the movie is successful they'll give thought to bringing back the show. A movie is nice and all, and it's Great that Firefly is back. But a movie will only give us 2 hours of Firefly a year. Compared to the 15 or more hours a year of Firefly we'd have if the TV show comes back. More = better. WOOT
...Fox's "Lame Reality Shows" are:
A- VERY cheap to produce, and...
B- Get VERY high ratings.
Those two things add up to huge profit for Fox. Sci-Fi is, by its nature, expensive to produce, with a fairly limited audience. Fox is there to make money, not make an artistic statement. They're less pretentious than the other networks in that regard. And major networks don't view sci-fi seriously or artistically anyway. The original Star Trek only got on the air because NBC and Desilu thought they were getting a laser shoot-em-up, or as Gene Roddenberry put it, "Wagontrain in Space".
Sci-Fi will always be a harder sell than "normal" dramas or reality tv because of the expense. Rendering technology has made it cheaper, but it's still a long ways off from being cost competitive. It's just easier and cheaper to produce another "When Rabid Ferrets Attack" or "The Gay Show".
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Prostitutes will never be the top females in the social hierarchy of any civilization.
No, but they can be socially acceptable.
If you fly a spaceship to colonize a new planet, you will never have to drive a chuckwagon pulled by a team of horses to get across a babbling brook on that planet.
Why not? It's a great solution for a resource-poor world far from normal shipping lanes. The Wild West aspect of Firefly is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but it's not entirely ridiculous.
Swearing in Chinese is geeky.
You say that like it's a bad thing. Besides, consider the back story that has the Chinese becoming so influential that their language becomes the lingua franca of a starfaring civilization. Lots of room for prequels here.
How about an anthropology class?
1) She was quite a bit more than just a prostitute, she was very well educated, well mannered and was not the top of the hierarchy.
2) What if your ship breaks down, and you have no way of mining resources, economical constraints, and there is no incoming trade with your planet? Yes, wagons are a possibility.
3) Ethnocentrism. Look it up.
GeneralKael -- Slacker Extraordinaire
First of all she wasn't exactly a prostitute, but more importantly a companion is not the "top female in the social hierarchy", yes she ranks better than the semi-criminal/black-market/smuggler crew running around in their obsolete junker of a spacecraft, but that isn't exactly way up the social chain.
And second, depending on how you got to the planet you might well drive a chuckwagon pulled by a team of horses. Just because you got dropped off in a spaceship doesn't imply that you are rich, or that the spaceship deposited a set of modern machine tools with the colony.
A planet could be colonized much like Australia, a place to dump people that aren't wanted in the parent society. With a low level of trading between the parent planet and the colony, there wouldn't be much ability to import needed items, and maintaining or building up a technological society from near scratch isn't easy. You need a lot of energy, which you don't necessarily have, a lot of raw materials, and some expensive machining tools to even get as far as the 19th century tech.
The nice thing about horses and wagons is that horses are self reproducing, you don't need a tech base to fix them when they break or build new ones. And grass or hay is easier to get than petroleum, or electric generation, or fission/fusion. And wagons can be build and maintained with little more that basic hand word working tools.
What the hell is a western and space fantasy doing on the same page?!
Too young to remember Battlestar Galactica, eh?
That's a clear indication that the studios have no respect for the viewers; why should I have any respect for them?
Firefly the movie is being released by Universal, who bought the rights from Fox. So you can still not respect Fox and enjoy the Firefly movie.
The only thing I'm worried about is whether or not Joss will have enough clout with the studio to make the movie HE wants, not the one that Universal wants. He has a track record of getting screwed over by Hollywood (albeit in the role of the writer, not as director.)
Great! Finally a reason to get out of my bunk! : )
.sig:
(You need to have seen the series to get this)
P.S. Notice my
You can't take the sky from me...
The original was goofy, and somewhat likeable, but not exactly what I'd call "excellent".
Wheadon wrote the script for the original, and was pretty much horrified - or, at least, very disappointed - with the end result. When the opportunity came to turn the film into a series, he insisted on retaining ultimate creative control over the direction of the show. It was a smart move - he had great instincts, and the show rarely stumbled when he was responsible for the content. (Episodes written by others, on the other hand, didn't always turn out so well.)
If the guy responsible for both the movie and the series says that the series is much better than the original, I don't think it's so strange to agree with him.
Along with the original cast, 3 new members will be added to lure in the casual movie goer. The first new addition will be a stubborn and mean-spirited, yet loveable, robot named "Alvin." The 2nd character will be a 1-2' tall furry creature with a really "cute" name that always seems to get into trouble. The 3rd character will be a "superior" alien-being that will constantly remind the crew of their mistakes and point out the foolish of 80% of the captain's actions. This will help the movie attract more than just the show's 16-35 male demographic audience.
What the hell is a western and space fantasy doing on the same page?!
Yeah, most westerns are about high adventure on the frontier of civilization. Whereas most sci-fi shows are about high adventure on the frontier of civilization. I don't see how they are compatible.
A lot of people dont understand why Futurama got the axe while the Simpsons endure. They dont appreciate how much went into Futurama.
Adult Swim has been putting little factoids into their commercial bumpers about it. It cost something like 2 million dollars per episode. The opening sequence has something like a dozen layers of animation and took months to complete. The animation in Futurama was really above-par, with multilayered hand animated characters mixed in with CGI and special effects and whatnot. It was all so subtle, though, that people didnt get it.
Cartoon Network was negotiating with Groenig about continuing Futurama, but the price tag was just way to high. They'd have to animate it like any other cartoon, which would kill the shows feel and mood.
The good news, however, is that they've struck an agreement for new Family Guy episodes.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
I'm beginning to get really pissed at the TV networks. I live in the UK, and as everyone knows, we get things late. First I spotted "The Lone Gunmen", which was a quality series, and was cancelled after only a few episodes. Mores the shame. Then my long time favourite Futurama got prematurely cancelled. Soon after I found that out, I discovered firefly showing for the first time on UK networks - then about two weeks later I found it had been cancelled. Pretty gutted. Now after reading through these comments, I see that "John Doe" has also been cancelled. That show has only just started to be advertised over here, it starts on Monday and I was really looking forward to it - and now I find it's been cancelled even before I've seen an episode. There is something very wrong at the TV networks, and if they don't get themselves sorted there's gonna be one hell of a backlash.
Starting Monday Space will be showing the entire Firefly run in Canada. Check your local listings and be sure to tune in. Give it a chance, it rocks!
Serve Gonk.
Everyone repeat after me...YOUR DOLLAR IS YOUR VOTE
There is really only two other solutions. The first is to have adequate "voice" by your strategic position in the industry to force the MPAA (or anyone else for that matter) to consider your views... hopefully you will provide factual evidence and thus focus on education not manipulation. This of course is still a "vote of the dollar" but here you seem to have more vote per dollar (and more dollars, heh).
The other solution is legal. By supporting lobbying and specific laws and politicians you can bring about a legal enforcement of your views. Perhaps you can even claim it is "leveling the playing field" as that often sounds very attractive. Sadly, this leveling is more like what you get from a 20 megaton nuclear detonation at the optimal distance above the surface. That means that you destroy the landscape and people resulting in not only striking out at IndustryX (MPAA here) but will enable shifty politicians and lawyers to use those VERY SAME laws to end up making the situation worse for choice and freedom.
I urge you to vote with your dollar. Sure picketing and boycotting sound nice and give certain people a warm and fuzzy that is not from their latte. However, even if you discount the hypocrisy of many of those people and focus on results you find that in the end you must speak the language of business... MONEY. Boycotting only works in a very well controlled situation... movies are not one of these unless you can get about 30 percent of people to NOT go to, support, buy DVD's, or anything related to movies that could help them.... NOTHING.
Basically, I invite everyone to not justify their actions and instead act on principle. If you are not that against what the MPAA is doing then go ahead and watch as many movies as you want confident in your giving that vote of approval to the MPAA. If however you cherish your freedoms and rights then stop being a coward and do something about it. Spend less time making excuses and calling those who have different opinions then you (i.e. that don't have a problem with MPAA) pig-fuckers and maybe just maybe you will start seeing some change.
As an investor it is HIGHLY infuriating. (you can include "as an employee" here as well) As I mentioned in a post above... your dollar is your vote. Remember that when you get pissed at the stupidity you witness in business ask yourself if you helped create it.
Oh, and one thing... don't confuse (or let yourself be confused by those who say this) the situation of being angry at a particular programming choice and that of obviously making a bad business decision. I have often been on the receiving end of decisions that were not favorable to me... however it was clear after a bit of thought and observation that I was in the minority. The real issue is when you have your major money maker and cancel it or as mentioned you take ANY show and simply mangle it so that you drive away revenue.
Remember this bit of wisdom by Scott Adams, "Why are stupid managers there? Because they were themselves hired by stupid management" Until you break the chain then this will not magically go away. There is little incentive for managers with business sense. The drive is for buzz and other superficial element compliance. Yet here we have the problem of perceived causal relationships. If a PHB is around and money flows then his PHB will see it as a sign of good management. Trends and actual cause and effect analysis will be ignored.
Personally this failure to do the job of an executive would lead me to fire them. I am glad I am a small company with no bloat. If anyone I outsourced to pulled this crap they would immediately be without money from me.
Just like the TV version, I expect it to flop.
I should not take long after it flop's that the theater for it to be release to DVD.
Then I will do down to the local Hollywood video and rent it!!!
Wise men speak because they have something to say, Fools because they have to say something!!!!
I watched it, but...
I was willing to:
Most people aren't THAT dedicated to a completly new show.
And BTW, not only were people watching the show when it was on for free, but we also TOPPED OFF THE PREORDER LIMIT for the DVD in one day. Jeez, think about it for one second will ya...
You can't take the sky from me...
And those other shows you mention: "gambled the future"? Where have you been? These are reality shows. The genre's been popular for a long time, and they cost a pittance (by Hollywood standards) to produce. Especially American Idol which is just a retread of a British show.
I did think that Fox would give Firefly a decent change, mainly because Fox Entertainment is run by Gail Berman. Back when she was a studio person, she persuaded Whedon to turn Buffy into a TV series, and got him the backing to do it. But Buffy was relatively low-budget, and Firefly was very expensive indeed. I guess that made it a lot of enemies in the network, who begrudged the resources and air time for a show that would take a long time to find an audience, and that would probably not be profitable even when it did.
It's sort of ironic that Whedon's turning Firefly into a movie. He passed up a chance to direct Ironman because he thought that he could have more creative freedom with a TV series. But after watching Buffy's pathetic whinding-down (and re-watching older episodes enough times to see their flaws), I have to think he's better off doing stories that can be told in one sitting.
Not that it matters. I'm still a rabid fan, but I think Joss Whedon's 15 minutes is over. He tells good stories, but he sucks at the political and social negotiation you need to do to make a TV show or a movie.
Umm, basically it was Cowboy Bebop with live action toys, good looking people, and Joss Whedon attitude.
For example: "If there's one thing the Buffy Powers That Be should have learned by now, it's that you can't stifle demand by choking the supply. When The WB pulled 'Graduation Day, Part 2' off the air in June, 1999, because of Columbine, fans got bootleg tapes from Canada (with creator Joss Whedon's blessing, no less)" (From here)
I.e. Joss Whedon actually sanctioned copyright violation by fans in at least one case (admittedly there were exceptional circumstances).
Men or women, it's the dumb gossipy types that love those shows. My gf hates them with a passion, considering them the worst form of tripe on the tube. Who wants to watch dumb, mean spirited deceitful people backstab each other? People who need to feel superior to someone, that's who. Men watch these things too, even straight men.
As for Firefly, (desperately trying to keep on topic) I loved it. It was killed by a poor timeslot and lack of network support. I don't think they gave it a fair shot, but these days, if something's not an instant hit, networks just can it and bring in a midseason replacement. Originality is not their forte.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
SAaB was a better show than Firefly and suffered the same Fox-ian treatment that lead to it's demise. Where is our movie? I guess, we'll just settle for Firefly being resurrected.
Something intelligent here.
1. Prostitutes will never be the top females in the social hierarchy of any civilization.
I don't think that was implied. I do think that in some ways making prostitution a legal legit profession is a legit angle.
2. If you fly a spaceship to colonize a new planet, you will never have to drive a chuckwagon pulled by a team of horses to get across a babbling brook on that planet.
Why not? Part of terraforming a new world I would THINK you would be importing lifeforms that you would choose to live with as part of creating your own eco system. Machines require high tech and tend to break down where horses breed. Why bother with the expence of importing machines when you can use existing forms of power.
If the issue is over population, then terraforming a planet and just tossing people on it would create the need to use every available resource in order to sustain the population, which would include animal labor.
3. Swearing in Chinese is geeky.
I often wondered about this point. Is this out of respect for the american west who's growth was possible in part due to Chinese labor, or the fact that China has the highest population on the planet earth and more likely to invest tons of money in space exploration to solve its lack of land per person issue.
I'm thinking it was a population issue, and learning a few words when you have a 1 in 6 chance of the random person being a Chinese national makes a lot of sence.
No more nor less geeky then watching someone from another nation saying *shit*.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
a) How many chapters was it going to be? He writes pretty hefty books. A buck a chapter may have ended up more than a hardcover. Definitely more than a softcover.
b) How many people looked at a chapter out of the novelty, never intending to pay for it, or even look at the second chapter? I expect that would account for the bulk of the non-payers. The 75% was doomed to failure.
c) I generally don't read King, but I heard that that book wasn't one of his best efforts.
d) Who wants to wait for a week or two between chapters when reading a book? Especially if the author makes no guarantee to ever finish the book? We're all to used to it in the TV or movie series world (and those formats usually are designed to minimize the problems with it), but it is different with books.
__
Do ya feel happy-go-lucky, punk?
Retardation is never funny.
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
No, he's talking about episode 3x09, "The Wish". The one with evil vampire Xander.
*snif* I miss the series the way it used to be. Too bad the animated version got axed.
--grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
Whatever her name was. The engineer of the ship, the cute blonde with a wrench in her hands and slightly greasy face, she was crazy cute! Keep her for the movie! I'd watch two hours of just her, thanks, you don't even need the rest of the crew, although the crazy sister character was pretty interesting, and the fact that the pilot and first officer were married.
Actually, now that I think about it, the whole show was rather good, well cast, good acting, decent plots, and some very witty dialogue.
Overall, a pretty decent show. Where do I go to order that DVD again?
Anyhow, the mechanic chick was really cute, did I say that?
Firefly ruelezzz....
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.