Mr. Mulder
12-05-2005, 11:37 PM
Exclusive: A Serenity Sequel?
This one's for the Browncoats.
by IGN FilmForce
December 1, 2005 - IGN FilmForce has heard that, although it was very disappointed in the poor boxoffice showing for Serenity, Universal may not have retired Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his renegade crew just yet.
Sources said that, given the strong sales of the TV series Firefly on DVD, Universal is planning a sequel film to Serenity that will be produced with and to broadcast premiere on the Sci Fi Channel, which is part of the NBC Universal family.
The project is said to be a lower budget undertaking streamlined for the small-screen.
IGN FilmForce checked with Joss Whedon's camp who denied the claim; Universal did not comment.
Time will tell if this rumor pans out.
Serenity II, a Sci-Fi Original?
Posted on Friday 2 December 2005
Well this is interesting. I was talking with a publicist from a major studio a few days back, and he tells me he’s got a friend who’s connected with the Serenity production. He makes this claim: that, in light of Serenity’s disappointing box office performance, there are still plans to go ahead with another film, but it will be done at a much lower budget, and instead of getting a theatrical release, it will be aired on the Sci-Fi channel as a Sci-Fi original.
Now first, let me immediately disclaim like holy hell, and then we’ll talk about this a bit more.
First disclaimer: The source for this is a studio publicist, but not from Universal, which would be the studio making the decisions about any future movies based on the property, and he was not speaking in any official capacity whatsoever, but just talking shop outside the office about something he’d heard.
Second disclaimer: Although I on occasion write for the Sci-Fi Channel, I am not in any way whatsoever speaking for them. I have not heard anything official, or even unofficial from the Channel. I asked people I know at Sci-Fi about this and none of them had ever heard of it. That’s not surprising, as they’re in parts of the company that wouldn’t hear about this until it was either public or very close to it.
So this is gossip - nothing more. It is industry gossip rather than fanboy gossip in case that means anything, but it’s still just gossip. It could be right on target, or it could turn out to be completely and utterly wrong. It could be a real plan at the moment, but one that’s dumped before it ever comes to fruition. There’s just no way of knowing. Time will tell.
As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one in that conversation and IGN has checked up a bit. Apparently Joss Whedon’s camp denies it, and Universal has no comment.
But with that in mind, let’s consider the scenario for a moment. Serenity wasn’t as successful as it should have been at the box office, but it’s not as bad as it might be. Domestic gross topped out at a little better than $25 million. It’s still bringing in money overseas - a bit less than $12 million to date bringing its worldwide box office to about $37 million. It just opened in Italy, for example, so that total will continue to rise - though don’t think it’s going to suddenly make $100 million in Asia or anything.
Then there’s the DVD money, which will be impressive. The pre-order is currently #30 on Amazon. Obviously the studio doesn’t make all that revenue, but they’re not going to do too badly out of all this.
They know there’s a devoted fan base for this material. Now they know what kind of audience it can generate. That might not be enough to justify a second theatrical feature on the scale of Serenity. But it would make a very appealing audience for a cable movie.
Remember it all began as a TV show. Firefly worked on that level without necessarily having to be scaled up to the range of a $45 million Serenity - although obviously the material worked very well at that level too. I personally think that a very credible Firefly movie could be made on an MOW budget. The cast (trimmed down a bit now) are still not major names and, on TV, there won’t be as much pressure to make the movie big big big! to compensate for that lack of starpower.
And, of course, producing another movie would give Universal something else to release on DVD, which is still where the money is expected to be. They could, in fact, just release it directly to DVD, but premiering it on cable first both helps boost the revenue, and helps make sure everyone’s waiting for the disc when it comes out.
But why the Sci-Fi Channel? Because it’s all part of Universal. That’s part of that cross-sectional cooperation big companies like to take advantage of. That’s why the Channel had NBC News throwing its not inconsiderable weight behind a Bermuda Triangle documentary to run alongside the upcoming Triangle mini-series. Running a second Serenity movie on Sci-Fi would be the obvious thing to do with it if they don’t want to spend the money to take it to theaters.
And it would be great for the Channel. Look at the numbers for Battlestar Galactica. A two-hour movie, or four-hour miniseries along the lines of Farscape’s Peacekeeper Wars would pull serious audience by cable standards. It would be a win all around.
So overall, this remains highly, highly speculative gossip. In fact, go re-read the disclaimers up above again, and then come back here. It’s even more speculative if the Whedon camp is not declining comment but outright denying it. But it’s not an absurd scenario on its face and, should it actually pan out, I think it would be a great move for fans.
"Serenity 2" Might Be Heading to TV
From Rottentomatoes.com - By Scott Weinberg - 2005-12-4
Gareth writes: "Despite some disappointing box office figures (it didn’t do too bad, but disappointing performances in some countries led to others cancelling its theatrical outing altogether) the brilliant "Serenity" looks like it might be set to spawn a sequel. That’s the good news. The bad news? It won’t be in 35mm.
According to IGN FilmForce, Joss Whedon’s space serial might continue as a telemovie series, with "Serenity 2" going straight to the tube - the SciFi Channel, in fact. The SciFi Channel is part of the NBC Universal family.
Though Joss Whedon’s camp - that’s his camp, not the man himself...yet - has denied that a plan for a lower-budget telemovie sequel is in the works, it’s still possible that there is something simmering away here.
And yes folks, they would have to have Whedon’s approval if they were to do it, even if he didn’t helm it. (Just like the “Buffy” film sequel they wanted to do that would’ve starred Kristy Swanson again - and also, the new “Buffy” TV show that they tried to do ‘without’ Captain Tightpants pop.)
So keep your fingers crossed, Browncoats, and be sure to hit a DVD store on 12/20. That’s when you can add "Serenity" to your DVD collection.
:01:
This one's for the Browncoats.
by IGN FilmForce
December 1, 2005 - IGN FilmForce has heard that, although it was very disappointed in the poor boxoffice showing for Serenity, Universal may not have retired Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his renegade crew just yet.
Sources said that, given the strong sales of the TV series Firefly on DVD, Universal is planning a sequel film to Serenity that will be produced with and to broadcast premiere on the Sci Fi Channel, which is part of the NBC Universal family.
The project is said to be a lower budget undertaking streamlined for the small-screen.
IGN FilmForce checked with Joss Whedon's camp who denied the claim; Universal did not comment.
Time will tell if this rumor pans out.
Serenity II, a Sci-Fi Original?
Posted on Friday 2 December 2005
Well this is interesting. I was talking with a publicist from a major studio a few days back, and he tells me he’s got a friend who’s connected with the Serenity production. He makes this claim: that, in light of Serenity’s disappointing box office performance, there are still plans to go ahead with another film, but it will be done at a much lower budget, and instead of getting a theatrical release, it will be aired on the Sci-Fi channel as a Sci-Fi original.
Now first, let me immediately disclaim like holy hell, and then we’ll talk about this a bit more.
First disclaimer: The source for this is a studio publicist, but not from Universal, which would be the studio making the decisions about any future movies based on the property, and he was not speaking in any official capacity whatsoever, but just talking shop outside the office about something he’d heard.
Second disclaimer: Although I on occasion write for the Sci-Fi Channel, I am not in any way whatsoever speaking for them. I have not heard anything official, or even unofficial from the Channel. I asked people I know at Sci-Fi about this and none of them had ever heard of it. That’s not surprising, as they’re in parts of the company that wouldn’t hear about this until it was either public or very close to it.
So this is gossip - nothing more. It is industry gossip rather than fanboy gossip in case that means anything, but it’s still just gossip. It could be right on target, or it could turn out to be completely and utterly wrong. It could be a real plan at the moment, but one that’s dumped before it ever comes to fruition. There’s just no way of knowing. Time will tell.
As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one in that conversation and IGN has checked up a bit. Apparently Joss Whedon’s camp denies it, and Universal has no comment.
But with that in mind, let’s consider the scenario for a moment. Serenity wasn’t as successful as it should have been at the box office, but it’s not as bad as it might be. Domestic gross topped out at a little better than $25 million. It’s still bringing in money overseas - a bit less than $12 million to date bringing its worldwide box office to about $37 million. It just opened in Italy, for example, so that total will continue to rise - though don’t think it’s going to suddenly make $100 million in Asia or anything.
Then there’s the DVD money, which will be impressive. The pre-order is currently #30 on Amazon. Obviously the studio doesn’t make all that revenue, but they’re not going to do too badly out of all this.
They know there’s a devoted fan base for this material. Now they know what kind of audience it can generate. That might not be enough to justify a second theatrical feature on the scale of Serenity. But it would make a very appealing audience for a cable movie.
Remember it all began as a TV show. Firefly worked on that level without necessarily having to be scaled up to the range of a $45 million Serenity - although obviously the material worked very well at that level too. I personally think that a very credible Firefly movie could be made on an MOW budget. The cast (trimmed down a bit now) are still not major names and, on TV, there won’t be as much pressure to make the movie big big big! to compensate for that lack of starpower.
And, of course, producing another movie would give Universal something else to release on DVD, which is still where the money is expected to be. They could, in fact, just release it directly to DVD, but premiering it on cable first both helps boost the revenue, and helps make sure everyone’s waiting for the disc when it comes out.
But why the Sci-Fi Channel? Because it’s all part of Universal. That’s part of that cross-sectional cooperation big companies like to take advantage of. That’s why the Channel had NBC News throwing its not inconsiderable weight behind a Bermuda Triangle documentary to run alongside the upcoming Triangle mini-series. Running a second Serenity movie on Sci-Fi would be the obvious thing to do with it if they don’t want to spend the money to take it to theaters.
And it would be great for the Channel. Look at the numbers for Battlestar Galactica. A two-hour movie, or four-hour miniseries along the lines of Farscape’s Peacekeeper Wars would pull serious audience by cable standards. It would be a win all around.
So overall, this remains highly, highly speculative gossip. In fact, go re-read the disclaimers up above again, and then come back here. It’s even more speculative if the Whedon camp is not declining comment but outright denying it. But it’s not an absurd scenario on its face and, should it actually pan out, I think it would be a great move for fans.
"Serenity 2" Might Be Heading to TV
From Rottentomatoes.com - By Scott Weinberg - 2005-12-4
Gareth writes: "Despite some disappointing box office figures (it didn’t do too bad, but disappointing performances in some countries led to others cancelling its theatrical outing altogether) the brilliant "Serenity" looks like it might be set to spawn a sequel. That’s the good news. The bad news? It won’t be in 35mm.
According to IGN FilmForce, Joss Whedon’s space serial might continue as a telemovie series, with "Serenity 2" going straight to the tube - the SciFi Channel, in fact. The SciFi Channel is part of the NBC Universal family.
Though Joss Whedon’s camp - that’s his camp, not the man himself...yet - has denied that a plan for a lower-budget telemovie sequel is in the works, it’s still possible that there is something simmering away here.
And yes folks, they would have to have Whedon’s approval if they were to do it, even if he didn’t helm it. (Just like the “Buffy” film sequel they wanted to do that would’ve starred Kristy Swanson again - and also, the new “Buffy” TV show that they tried to do ‘without’ Captain Tightpants pop.)
So keep your fingers crossed, Browncoats, and be sure to hit a DVD store on 12/20. That’s when you can add "Serenity" to your DVD collection.
:01: