Whedon gets Firefly film deal - it's really happening folks!

[Tabitha]

From http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1969026

Sep. 04, 2003

'Firefly' lands in film afterlife


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."

All I can really say is "woooooooohoooooooooo"!

 

[libelula]

Dammned straight, Maybe if the movie is really popular there will be more of a demand for a second season. One can only hope!!!

 

[Dave]

A film would be excellent.

As I said before, only if he can get the original cast back together, but they all seem to be keen to do it.

Can I just say "Thankyou Universal!"

 

[Lonewolf89]

I saw an article about this at SciFi.com! I'm so glad Joss was able to pull it off. I can't wait to see what he's come up with.

 

[Tabitha]

I've been thinking about this for the past few days, and I wonder how Firefly will change in the transition between the small and big screen. I can't help thinking that the whole tone of the story, especially the low key humour, will have to change dramatically.

I hope all the cast come back.

 

[Trunks]

Go Joss Go Joss!! w00t woo.....

 

[Lonewolf89]

Originally posted by Tabitha
I've been thinking about this for the past few days, and I wonder how Firefly will change in the transition between the small and big screen. I can't help thinking that the whole tone of the story, especially the low key humour, will have to change dramatically.

I hope all the cast come back.

I've worried about that, too. But, I trust Joss to stay true to the show, so I don't think we'll have any problems.


I found this at SciFi.com:

Firefly DVD Details Sneaked

The DVDAnswers.com Web site posted details of the upcoming complete series DVD for Fox's canceled Firefly, which hits stores on Dec. 9. The four-disc set will carry a retail price of around $50, the site reported.

The site added that the set should include commentaries for several episodes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, a video of show creator Joss Whedon singing the SF western's theme song, a gag reel and deleted scenes.

 

[markpud]

Cool to both - the movie and the DVD release! Can't wait!

 

[Trunks]

yea.. hopefully it will stay the same for the screens... else the fans they get from the screens that wanna see more could be quiet confused...

 

[Dave]

Somehow I missed this at SciFi Wire, I surfed to it from another site:

Firefly Film Details Hinted

Joss Whedon, creator of the defunct Fox SF TV show Firefly, told SCI FI Wire that his proposed series-based feature film will aim at an audience that has never seen the show, but will also contain "big giant payoffs" for faithful fans. Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) added that he's finishing up the script for the proposed movie.

"It is still just that, a possible film," Whedon said in an interview at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention. "We have a good chance, actually. It looks like it's a real possibility. But more than that I cannot say. ... I don't want to jinx anything."

Whedon acknowledged that it seems odd to try to mount a movie based on a failed television show (Fox canceled Firefly after airing only 11 of the 14 produced episodes). But, he added, referring to his hit Buffy TV series, "It also seems unusual to want to mount a show from a failed film, so you know unusual is sort of my stock in trade. The only reason I'm doing this is because I believed that there was a story to tell that I had not had the opportunity to tell. And I believed that I didn't want to work with anybody except these guys for a long while. So ... there was just too much to give away."

Whedon declined to say which of the series' many loose threads he would tie up in the movie. Some of those include the secret behind the Blue Sun Corp. and its interest in River (Summer Glau); the secret behind Shepherd Book's (Ron Glass) past; the unresolved romantic tension between Capt. Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and Inara (Morena Baccarin); and the unresolved romantic tension between Simon (Sean Maher) and Kaylee (Jewel Stait).

"There are about 400 things I'd like to see wrapped up in the film," Whedon said. "Unfortunately, then it becomes a miniseries. And so there are certain threads that this follows up on very heavily, and certain ones that it drops entirely. Because you have to pick and choose if it's a movie. ... Obviously, the movie is more epic than the show. There's big action stuff and all kinds of hijinks, but the ... development of the relationships and who these people are and why they belong together is always going to be the point." Firefly: The Complete Series was released on DVD on Dec. 9.

Those are really the same things that I'd like to know too, so I hope the film happens. I've still not seen the final two or three episodes of the series. I really enjoyed this show, I still can't believe that it was cancelled.

 

[Abydos6]

Any more word on this?

aby

 

[Dave]

I've just done a search and I can't find anything more recent than that. Maybe the Buffy fans know more. Markpud? Obcooke?

edit:

All the existing rumours are all together here:

 

[ray gower]

You could try the FireFly Movie web siite.

At the moment most of the news seems to be based about assuring everybody that it will happen sometime this year.

 

[Abydos6]

checked them out and so far, it still seems to be in the offing...

aby

 

[Dave]

Good News

Variety has reported that the film green-lighted and that the entire cast are onboard.

from SciFi Wire

Firefly Feature A Go

Universal Pictures has green-lighted Serenity, a feature film to be based on the short-lived Joss Whedon television series Firefly, according to Variety. Fox TV canceled Firefly in late 2002, after airing just 11 episodes of the futuristic western. The trade paper reported that Whedon is on board to write and direct the feature, and that the entire original cast of the series, among them Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres and Summer Glau, would reprise their characters.

Whedon told Variety that he chose to title the film Serenity in order to provide some distance from the TV version, and he added that the film's action would take place about six months after the last events seen on the show. "It was important that people understand that the movie isn't the series," Whedon said. "The movie is bigger, more epic than anything you can do in a series."

The idea, Whedon went on to tell Variety, was to make Serenity accessible even to moviegoers who never saw an episode of Firefly. "You're not going to bring people into a movie if you're explaining all the time what happened before," Whedon said. Production is slated to begin in June and the studio hopes to have Serenity ready for release in 2005. Universal is owned by Vivendi Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.

 

[ray gower]

"The movie is bigger, more epic than anything you can do in a series."

What can be more epic than all the themes running in the series?

We have the Blue Hand Gang, River, Book, Jayne must eventually get his come-uppance, even Mal himself still leaves big hole. Not to mention the Mal and Inara relationship and those are just the obvious themes.

They could never fit all that in a single film!

 

[Dave]

Originally posted by ray gower
What can be more epic than all the themes running in the series?

We have the Blue Hand Gang, River, Book, Jayne must eventually get his come-uppance, even Mal himself still leaves big hole. Not to mention the Mal and Inara relationship and those are just the obvious themes.

They could never fit all that in a single film!

That's really why i began this thread:
http://www.ascifi.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19939

Please add your suggestions there.

 

[Abydos6]

wow....

aby

 

[obcooke]

Just to flesh out a few details about the film deal -

Arizona Reporter - March 03, 2004

..."Serenity,"...was announced today by Mary Parent and Scott Stuber, vice chairmen, production, Universal Pictures.

"Serenity" will continue and expand upon the adventures of the memorable characters launched in the series, who will be joined by new characters created expressly for the motion picture adaptation. Whedon will act as both screenwriter and director, with Barry Mendel ("The Sixth Sense," "Unbreakable" and the upcoming Wes Anderson film, "The Life Aquatic") producing and Chris Buchanan (president of Whedon's Mutant Enemy production company) and Alisa Tager (of Barry Mendel Productions) serving as executive producers.

"We have wanted to be in business with Joss Whedon for a long time and we're incredibly excited to be working with him on his feature film directorial debut," stated Parent and Stuber. "Joss is a true creator, whose talent crosses all mediums. His mythic worlds are inhabited with rich, detailed and very human characters. 'Serenity' will provide him with a great opportunity to paint another larger-than-life canvas with very identifiable, real characters at the heart of the story."

 

[Tabitha]

I came across some casting notes on www.buffy.nu, but be warned - don't read them if you want to stay spoiler free for the film! They give away a lot of hints about the content of the movie.