Firefly Series to Movie to Series? by Mephisto

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Firefly Series to Movie to Series?

POSTED BY: MEPHISTO
UPDATED: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 14:25
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VIEWED: 6236
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Saturday, January 3, 2004 1:09 AM

I think we've pretty well established the movie will be made. At least movies.com seems to think so. My question is: Will the series start up again if the movie does well? Buffy the Vampire slayer was a movie before a series too right? I just don't think they can fit the entire story into a movie. They could probably do more than one movie but would it be the same? I'd sure as hell rather they did a ton of movies than nothing at all, but the series was great.

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Saturday, January 3, 2004 5:59 AM

HUMBLE

think more than just fox network incompetence got firefly cancelled. poor economic outlook, terrorism, wars, etc. all were contributing factors. sponsor's cost cutting probably had more to do with network tv's current trend of low-cost crappy shows. now, if firefly movie does great at the box office, it's fairly certain that another movie will be made. if economy picks up and sponsors start shelling out for tv advertising, another tv network could very well pick up firefly tv series. my only question is, if the movie is successful, would the original cast WANT to go back to doing tv series? if not, would it hurt show if new cast members fill in? looking at joss's other shows, i don't think it would be that detrimental for fan base.

Let's Do Some CRIME!

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Saturday, January 3, 2004 7:57 AM

TIRED

Quote:
Originally posted by Mephisto:
I think we've pretty well established the movie will be made. At least movies.com seems to think so. My question is: Will the series start up again if the movie does well? ... I'd sure as hell rather they did a ton of movies than nothing at all, but the series was great.

Not terribly likely either way. Universal are the same nice people who completely fubar'd the MST3K movie, but Firefly would make a better film...even if the story ended up being the THIRD pilot episode they'd shot.

As far as the TV series, Fox can do whatever it wants, but it's not impossible Universal would spin a successful movie back into a TV series, these are the same people who own the scifi channel after all. However, I think the problem with the TV series was the cost vs. income, channels aren't much for loss leaders anymore, they're even dropping sports coverage, and the $2M to produce an episode of Firefly may be too steep for anyone to pick up, knowing they won't get a return.

Of course, if they somehow make $30M in DVD sales fromt the series so far, I suspect Fox, Scifi or someone else will have to rethink the value of producing the show. It's probably good to note at this point that this was discussed back when they first cancelled it, and that other shows are built around the straight to DVD business model (The Sopranos, that ridiculous ESPN Playmakers show, etc).

To go even further into left field, Disney makes an absolute killing on straight to video sequels of their movies, animated and otherwise. If you could turn $2M per episode into $4M for a 2-episode DVD retailing at $20, you could just make the show, sell it to whoever would pick it up cheap as a break even/loss leader for production, then cover your profit needs on the DVD sales and merchandising.

Of course, you'd have to buy all those rights back from FOX to do it. I don't know how much Mr. Whedon made on his shows to date, but it's an 8 figure risk to even try that.

As far as the show just coming back via Fox, well, I remember my parents telling me Star Trek was cancelled and then brought back later by the same network, and Fox is bringing Family Guy back in response to DVD sales (!), so it's not without precedent. The feedback loop is just faster now than it was in the early 60s, so the continuation of sites like this and the success of the Firefly DVD set is about the best you can hope for short of some fan winning the lottery and putting the money up as an investment against the show's future earnings.

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Saturday, January 3, 2004 11:04 AM

MRGREEN

Quote:
short of some fan winning the lottery and putting the money up as an investment against the show's future earnings.

Wouldn't that be the funniest thing to see happen? Some 20 year old sci-fi fan, who is a total firefly devotee wins a $150 million lotto, buys the rights from fox, and bank rolls the first season of show direct to dvd?

I know I would do it. Would probably at least break even in the long run, maybe make a few bucks. On that note, we should start sending the DVD set to america's richest people. Anyone know if Bill Gates has seen Firefly yet?

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Saturday, January 3, 2004 11:11 AM

CARDIE

Star Trek was in danger of cancellation, and the fan campaign helped get it renewed for seasons 2 and 3, but it was never cancelled and then brought back, on the same network or anywhere else, except in the movies. TNG was not on TOS's original network (NBC) but sold directly to individual stations via syndication.

Cardie

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Saturday, January 3, 2004 11:46 AM

HKCAVALIER

Quote:
Originally posted by HUMBLE:
my only question is, if the movie is successful, would the original cast WANT to go back to doing tv series?

Everyone connected with this show considers it the best thing that they've ever done. Everyone. Nathan said he'd give up dialysis for the show. I don't think anybody would bag out no matter what form it continued in. Personally, I'd rather see Firefly once a week than once a year...

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

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Saturday, January 3, 2004 1:33 PM

NIGHTTRAIN

Nah. It's too much story for one movie. I hope it will end up like the James Bond movies. One movie every couple of years, going on forever. I'll probably be taking my grandchildren to Firefly part 32. Of course i'd rather the series comes back, but that is really seeming like a long shot right now.

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Sunday, January 4, 2004 1:57 AM

FLYINFREE

Come on people! Go for the gold! Set your sights on the moon! Bring back the series AND a Firefly movie every year!

"Well, we're still flyin'."
"That's not much."
"It's enough." Malcolm Reynolds and Simon Tam - Serenity

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Sunday, January 4, 2004 3:09 AM

SHADOWKATE

Just as a point:

In Japan, entire anime series are made with the full purpose of making money on DVDs regardless of if it is shown on television or not...or so I've been told by a couple of reliably sources.

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Friday, January 16, 2004 8:01 PM

SAINT JAYNE

Excuse me, but who posted this? It seems to have appeared under my name, yet these are not my thoughts! Perhaps I'm insane.

I think this show will some back like another SF
show that was canclled because some management types couldent get their heads around the concept of a mixed crew of beings working togeather.In
Fireflys case the whole crew are ticking bombs
a situation that keeps evreyone guessing who is
going to happen next. Especialy with jane and his bad temper andlove affair with large wepons.
I hope the people in charge take a second look
if they don't and someone else with something beside stats and ratings for brains. This could
be a great show with lots of potential that up to now was gaing quite a following.

An old SF Fan

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Friday, January 16, 2004 9:40 PM

REKKA2

I can vouch for the success of anime on dvd *looks at shelves of anime...*

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Saturday, January 17, 2004 10:14 AM

ALFERDPACKER

While anime may work with the profits largely from DVDs, there is a big and crucial difference.

Anime doesn't require constructed sets. Firefly does and that's a large expense. It costs much less to produce an animated episode than something using real people. (Reality TV being the exception.)

People are fond of using Family Guy as a show being resurrected as a result of good DVD sales. What people forget is that Family Guy has no set. All it needs are voice actors.

Firefly's set was dismantled. Any rebirth of the show requires the set to be rebuilt, which is a fairly hefty investment.

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Sunday, January 18, 2004 8:21 AM

CAITLYN

In another thread I raised a few other series that got revived. Perhaps the most interesting history of any series, let alone a science fiction series, looks like this: TV-> movie (while TV series was ongoing) -> cancellation -> revived series -> cancellation -> TV movie/pilot -> animated series -> original series revived in 2004.

The above chronology is for Dr. Who. It premiered on BBC One in November, 1963. It's huge success led to two big screen movies in the '60s with Peter Cushing in the lead role. The first, "Doctor Who and the Daleks" did well, while the second "Dcotor Who: Dalek Invasion of Earth 2150 AD" bombed. The series went on for 22 seasons and was cancelled in 1984. After much fan protest it was revived 18 months later with an abbreviated (14 episode) season 23 in 1986. Three more short seasons followed with only marginal success, leading to cancellation in 1989.

By the mid '90s fan interest and video sales sparked the interest of a fan, Steven Speilberg, to do a movie. The rights issues scuttled that, but BBC teamed with Fox to do a TV movie as a pilot for a revived series in 1996. It aired on Fox in the U.S. and was pretty well reviled.

In the meanwhile, fan interest and strong DVD sales in recent years led to a webcast of an animated tribute episode to Douglas Adams of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame. Adams was a regular writer for Dr. Who and was script editor for season 17. In "The Pirate Planet' (season 16) you'll hear a lot of lines that were later ripped off for Hitchhiker's. But I digress...

The webcast was successful, and that led to an animated series last year. That, and ongoing strong DVD sales, have led to the BBC putting Dr. Who back into production with it's return (season 27) slated for Fall, 2004.

Bottom line: anything can happen if people believe there is money to be made off an old series. Look at Battlestar Galactica for another recent example. Glen A. Larson, creator of the original series for ABC, was also the creator of the new one for SciFi. Keen Eddie (granted, not science fiction) is coming back after a strong fan campaign.

Oh, and for those of you who don't remember, Seinfeld bombed in it's original run and was quickly cancelled. Unaired episodes were used as midsummer filler, had huge ratings, and the rest is history.

KAYLEE
But cow? How do you figure?

SIMON
It's upside down.

She cranes her head upside down, looks. Nods, sagely...

KAYLEE
Okay, then. Cow.

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Sunday, January 18, 2004 8:45 AM

JAKE7

Quote:
Originally posted by Caitlyn:
...Keen Eddie (granted, not science fiction) is coming back after a strong fan campaign.

Really? I loved that show! Got a link to more information? You can just email me with the info if you like: JAWGS@netscape.net

--------------
MAL: Everybody's makin' a fuss.

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Sunday, January 18, 2004 9:03 AM

CAITLYN

http://www.bravotv.com/Keen_Eddie/

The will be running the sever episodes already aired plus six more which haven't been seen. If the ratings are good Bravo already has obtained the rights for season two.

"No, the book is wrong. This whole
conclusion is fallacious."

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Sunday, January 18, 2004 9:07 AM

JAKE7

THANK YOU!!

Very timely, too. as it comes back *this* week!

Oh Happy Day! (not to be confused with "Oh Ecstatic Day" when we get the next Firefly installment, be it movie or TV series!)

Best of all - it's NOT on F*x!!!

--------------
MAL: Everybody's makin' a fuss.

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Monday, January 19, 2004 9:24 AM

CAITLYN

My pleasure, Jake. Enjoy the Eddie reruns. My housemate loves the show, so I'll get to see them if I want to be in the living room playing with the ferrets.

Oh, and yeah, I'd just love to be the one to post the info on Firefly's return. Might be a while

"There ain't nothing wrong with this.
Not that I can see, anyhow."

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Monday, January 19, 2004 10:28 PM

BOBAFETT677

I watched the first four episodes of Firefly and I thought they were good but not over the top. As time past I meant to watch Firefly but I got busy with college and I did not have time. When I heard that Firefly got canceled I did not feel too distraught about it.

A week ago a friend of mine was visiting and brought the DVDs of Firefly over and he watched them all the way through and said that Firefly was better the second time around. I was quit surprised that there was a DVD set, so I decided to give Firefly another chance. After the first two episodes I fell in love with the series and watched the complete set in two days. When I watched the last episode I felt saddened that this was the last program. Now I will never learn what secrets the Shepherd had or learn more about River and what she has evolved into.

So I thought that there would be a fan web site trying to bring the show back. When I did a google search on Firefly I found this site. Through the information provided I was quite distraught to find out that the Fox network messed with the timing of the episodes. I think the show would have fared better if the episodes would have been shown in order. I was excited to read that there was a possibility of a Firefly movie. A Firefly movie has a potential to be a great movie if they can recreate the same chemistry and atmosphere as the series. Although I would rather that they bring back the series. I feel that Firefly is turning into a cult classic.

Bobafett677

Bobafett677

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Tuesday, January 20, 2004 7:07 AM

JAKE7

Quote:
Originally posted by Caitlyn:
...Oh, and yeah, I'd just love to be the one to post the info on Firefly's return. Might be a while

That would be most excellent!

--------------
MAL: Everybody's makin' a fuss.

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Tuesday, January 20, 2004 1:05 PM

TALLGRRL

Quote:
Originally posted by Cardie:
Star Trek was in danger of cancellation, and the fan campaign helped get it renewed for seasons 2 and 3, but it was never cancelled and then brought back, on the same network or anywhere else, except in the movies. TNG was not on TOS's original network (NBC) but sold directly to individual stations via syndication.

Cardie

I don't want to sound negative, but those were the Old Days.
The X-Files wasn't a hit, but it was given time and became a cult hit. Then it became a Hit with a capital "h".
These days, with numbers like X-Files had in the beginning, it would be canceled.
Networks, like record labels, are no longer in the business of "nurturing" something. They want a hit out of the box or it's on the the next hopefully Big Money-making thing. Like stupid, insipid, insulting, cheap-to-make "reality" shows.
And does anyone (especially the two morons starring in "The Simple Life") know that one of the definitions of "simple" is "lacking intelligence or sense"?
If "Firefly" were to be a big enough hit as a movie that someone would want to bring it back to the small screen, I pray that that someone would be Sc-Fi. On cable they'd have a little more freedom in their content.

"Take me, sir. Take me hard."

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Tuesday, January 20, 2004 2:25 PM

BOXWELBXR

A friend of mine at work lent me her DVD's to watch. I had never even heard of the series before she told me and I am a SciFi fan. I knew going in that the series had been cancelled and debated on watching it in the first place to save myself from being "hooked" and then not having anything to watch after

Anyway, I really liked all the episodes and I really hope they do decide to make a movie or start the series back up. I would like to

Fox for not advertising the series better in the first place. You have one more to sign your "petition".

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