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

[Dave]

Production to begin in 3 weeks...

Joss Whedon has been speaking at the Saturn Awards about various projects. This is from SciFi Wire. Does anyone have the full interview?

from SciFi Wire

Serenity Takes Off Soon

Joss Whedon—who is directing Serenity, a movie version of his SF western TV series Firefly—told SCI FI Wire that he will begin production in three weeks, with all of the original cast members in place, led by Nathan Fillion. Compared with the Fox series, the movie will be "bigger, faster, stronger," Whedon said in an interview at the Saturn Awards in Los Angeles. "The show plays on a very small, personal level. And while I want that to work in the movie, the movie has an epic quality and a resolve that you simply can't afford in a TV show. Because if you have the epic quality, you run out of money, and if you have the resolve, you run out of ideas. ... The movie is really like, if you took a giant hit of the show all at once. It's very big. Perhaps I should use different imagery."

Whedon added that the movie will wrap up story points left dangling when Fox unceremoniously canceled the show in the middle of its first season. "It won't wrap up all the storylines," he said. "It's not a miniseries. It's a movie. But it does deal with some of the outstanding questions of the show. Like River [Summer Glau]. River is a very important question in the show."

Whedon added that the movie will be shot in Los Angeles on all-new sets. "They're a little grander in scale," he said. "They're a little more movie-like. ... Everything outside of Serenity is a place we haven't visited and people we've not seen, but it is the world that was from the show." Serenity is aiming at a 2005 release.

The 'River question' is the thing I want to know most. But I also want to know about Shepherd Book too.

 

[markpud]

sounds good, looking forward to it!

 

[Dave]

They have already begun filming. Release due on April 22, 2005.

from SciFi Wire

Serenity Flies On Tenacity

Alan Tudyk, who reprises the role of space pilot Wash in the upcoming SF movie Serenity, told SCI FI Wire that it was creator Joss Whedon's perseverance that got the movie off the ground. Serenity is based on Whedon's canceled Fox SF television series Firefly. "I think it's a testament to his tenacity that he got Fox to sell the rights and that he got another studio -- and no little studio, but Universal-to buy the rights and then to make this multi -- million dollar movie based on a show that was canceled," Tudyk said in an interview. "Today is my day off, but yesterday I was shooting with everybody. And there's a very big déjà vu going on right now."

An SF western set 500 years in the future, Firefly aired for just a few weeks on Fox in the fall of 2002. The show starred Nathan Fillion as Mal Reynolds, captain of the spaceship Serenity, and featured Tudyk as the ship's pilot. The show's avid fans transformed the ensuing Firefly DVD set into a best-seller, prompting Universal to green-light a Firefly feature film.

Serenity is currently in production, with all the series regulars back in the fold and Whedon on board as writer and director. "Every day we did Firefly we were thankful," Tudyk said "And then, when we got canceled, even though we knew we had all these fans -- because they were taking out ads in Variety and things like that -- it seemed like it was over. ... It had kind of been coming, and we'd been mistreated by Fox for a while, to the point where we were like, 'This is going to be over.' And then when it was, it wasn't too big of a surprise. It was disappointing, but not a big surprise. But then Joss, at the closing party, said, 'Look, I'm not giving up.' It was inspiring, but you kind of questioned, 'What do you mean you're not giving up? Didn't we just get canceled?'"

Tudyk can be seen next in the upcoming SF film I, Robot, in which he plays the title character. Serenity is tentatively set for release on April 22, 2005. Universal Pictures is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.

 

[Dave]

from SciFi Wire

Firefly Gets Big In Serenity

Alan Tudyk, who plays the space pilot Wash in the upcoming SF movie Serenity, told SCI FI Wire that the movie based on Fox's canceled TV show Firefly is now shooting and will be bigger and better, with a story that picks up on the show's mythology. "I can say this, and I can't say much, because [writer/director] Joss [Whedon] would kill me," Tudky said in an interview. "In the TV show, if you know it, the characters of River [Summer Glau] and Simon [Sean Maher] were some of the people on board the ship [and] are wanted by the law. And it got us into trouble a lot. They're still wanted by the law in the movie. But the Alliance, the law, assigns a guy to catch her, who's really, really good at his job. That's all I can say." The "guy" is called simply The Operative and is played by British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (Amistad).

As for the movie, Tudyk said, "It is bigger [than the TV show], yeah. Our costumes are cooler. Our ship is the same, although it's actually a little bit cooler." Tudyk added, with tongue in cheek, "The hallways are a little bit wider to accommodate better acting. It's not as dangerous. You need wider halls for better acting. The first rule of acting: wide open space. It's not as dangerous of a set. Used to be you put your hand on something, and you came away with blood. … Now it's all very smooth surfaces."

Tudyk, who plays the pilot of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity 500 years in the future, added: "My bridge. ... The day before yesterday was my first day flying the spaceship. And I got all sorts of new switches. I love the switches and the buttons that light up. And I've got two screens that hang above my head that I never had before that I'll access different things."

Serenity, now shooting in and around Los Angeles and at Universal Studios, picks up the story of the crew of the Serenity and reunites the original Firefly cast, including Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin and Ron Glass. Longtime TV producer Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) makes his feature-film directorial debut with Serenity. Tudyk said the movie has more time and more money to get things right. "The pilot we shot for Firefly was a two-hour pilot. ... I think we made that for $12 million. … And we have $50 million to do two hours now. So [Whedon] can do a lot." Tudyk added: "And we have a lot of support at Universal. They're really happy with what we've done. We're about a month and a half into shooting now, and they're extraordinarily excited. But we all get along so well. I mean, it is ridiculous." Serenity is eyeing an April 22, 2005, release. Universal Pictures, which is releasing the movie, is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.

Couple of points to note there:

All the cast are reunited, plus a new lawman/bounty-hunter character 'The Operative'.

The budget is $50 Million, not the $35 Million previously quoted.