Expanded Firefly movie/TV/DVD idea by Gunhand

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Expanded Firefly movie/TV/DVD idea

POSTED BY: GUNHAND
UPDATED: Sunday, May 9, 2004 13:25
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Saturday, May 8, 2004 8:01 PM

Okay no there isn't some announcement somewhere that is saying Firefly is going to be coming back to TV, no matter how much I would like that to happen. So if you were expecting a big announcement, just keep walkin'.

What I'm talking about is the way the contract with Fox was set up when Universal got the rights to do Firefly as a movie(s). If you read the different announcements they all pretty much said thete was a time period where Firefly wouldn't be allowed to return to TV even though no one is saying for sure about that time frame I'm thinking it's 5 years from hints.

Okay now that's the bad-ish news. And here's my take on how they could sidestep that some. It's cunning, crafty and I'm not sure it isn't precluded by the contract but I'd be surprised if it was. The deal between Fox and Universal says no TV series for whatever number of years, which is a downer because we like our Firefly regularly and waiting between movies could drive me nuts. So I was thinking, what else could they do? Then it hit me.

As near as I can tell the contract says Universal has rights to make movies, I didn't see it specify Theatrical Release movies. Now the BDM is coming up and I'm all manner of pleased about that, but after it's over and then we get the Serenity DVD we're gonna have to wait a while for the next theatrical movie. So...what if Joss and company decided to take some of the sets, extra time they have when everything's all together and use that to do a Direct to DVD mini-series that takes place right after Serenity? Direct to DVD means it isn't a TV show so...could be not covered by the no-no clause.

Joss said he wanted to get the whole story out no mater what the medium, and as many times as we go to see the BDM sooner or later it's going to be out of the theatres and we'll be watching it on DVD. So if they released mini-series between the movies it could a) give us a more regular Firefly fix, b) allow for more development of the plot because instead of 6 hours in movies it would be the movie run times + the mini-series DVDs in between.

Direct to DVD movies have a pretty bad rap because basically it's something that was good enough for a studio to buy the script for but not good enough to release in theatres, but this this would be something completely different. Not bad stuff gone straight to DVD becuase it's bad, but very good stuff gone straight to DVD becuase it's a way to tell more of the story that we all love.

Now some people would say, yeah but what happens if Serenity comes out in theatres, we get the DVD of the movie later, then there's a mini-series that picks up, and then the next theatrical movie follows that, won't people who didn't see the mini be lost? Well yeah. BUT as I see it anyone that loves Firefly already (as we all do) and anyone who gets into it through Serenity will be clued in and chomping at the bit to get their hands on any Firefly, so they'll get the mini-series DVDs. I highly doubt anyone who sees Serenity and then plans on seeing Serenity 2 in the theatres wouldn't be interested in these DVDs. See what I mean?

Then when the TV lock comes off after the timeperiod, well away we go as usual.

Yes it's a weird idea. But it could work. I mean I'd love to be able to point to my Firefly boxed set, a Serenity DVD and then 1 or 2 miniseries DVDs to show to people before the next movie in the line comes out.

Then again if Serenity doesz the proverbial "big bank" who knows, Universal may think it's worth their while to toss a lot of money at Fox to get the TV rights and then do a new series after Serenity with the theatrical movies being the Big Pictures sort of like what they did with Star Trek except...well it's Firefly so the movies would tie directly into the chronology.

Yeah it's late and I'm babbling, but just an idea I had.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging
around playing art critic till I get pinched by
the Man, how's about we move away from this
eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our
increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?"

My eerie-ass website:
http://gunhandsfirefly.homestead.com/Index.html

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Saturday, May 8, 2004 9:31 PM

WEERWOLF

Quote:
Yeah it's late and I'm babbling, but just an idea I had.

Good idea though. Since the country where I live is two years or more behind on all things sci-fi, I'm dependent on DVD's to get my kicks anyway.

Go for it, Joss!

"Sir, we don't want to deal with Patience."
"Why not?"
"She shot you."
"Well, yeah, she did a bit..."

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Saturday, May 8, 2004 9:45 PM

GUNHAND

Well I babbled a lot there but glad someone understood the jist of things. Hehe.

The way I see it is when Firefly's whole story has been told we'll all have everything ever put on film on DVD anyhow so why not issue some of it directly on DVD so we can get our grubby little hands on it sooner?

I need my Firefly fix, everytime I watch Objects in Space I feel sorta depressed because for now that's all there is and I want some more.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging
around playing art critic till I get pinched by
the Man, how's about we move away from this
eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our
increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?"

My eerie-ass website:
http://gunhandsfirefly.homestead.com/Index.html

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Saturday, May 8, 2004 11:29 PM

NEROLI

There is a petition of sorts on http://SerenityMovie.net to gauge support for a direct to DVD approach. Just got there, click on the Direct To DVD link and fill out the form.

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Sunday, May 9, 2004 12:46 AM

JUMPY

Quote:
Originally posted by Gunhand:

Now some people would say, yeah but what happens if Serenity comes out in theatres, we get the DVD of the movie later, then there's a mini-series that picks up, and then the next theatrical movie follows that, won't people who didn't see the mini be lost? Well yeah. BUT as I see it anyone that loves Firefly already (as we all do) and anyone who gets into it through Serenity will be clued in and chomping at the bit to get their hands on any Firefly, so they'll get the mini-series DVDs. I highly doubt anyone who sees Serenity and then plans on seeing Serenity 2 in the theatres wouldn't be interested in these DVDs. See what I mean?

The thing is Joss has got to make Serenity 2 appeal to EVERYONE, especially those who've never seen any Firefly, not even the first movie. Basically its gotta make sense (obviously it'll be easier to understand if you HAVE seen previous Firefly stuff).

If it [Serenity 2] comes out in theatres and you need to have watched the mini-series to understand it, it might not get the numbers of people it needs.

Unfortunately there will be a lot of people who might go see Serenity the first one] and enjoy it but not want to fork out more money for this DVD mini series (the crazy people of course). Or they just won't get a chance to watch it or not want to etc.

And so they'll go straight from Serenity 1 to Serenity 2 and not get it. Joss has got to be able to link the first and second movie up easily, and he might not be able to if there is this mini series.

That'd be kinda bad.

I actually think the whole mini series DVD thing is a brilliant idea, and I would go for it, but it may affect the performance of the second movie that's all.

Do you see where I'm getting at?

__________________________
There's no show I'd rather see, than the one with Serenity.
You can't take the sky from me...

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Sunday, May 9, 2004 1:38 AM

MAYDAY

Do you mean like the Matrix series did with the "Animatrix", "Final Flight Of The Osiris" and thhe game "Enter The Matrix"?

Not so much an extension to the film just more information that "bulks out" the firefly verse. With these it didn't matter if you only watched the films and not the extras, but they just gave you more of an understanding on the back-story or whats going on behind the scenes.

If that makes any sense it'll be a miracle, havern't had my coffee, ciggie or breakfast yet.

Jayne:> Don't know these folk and don't much care to neither...
Mal:> They're whores.
Jayne:> I'm in!

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Sunday, May 9, 2004 4:11 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

You made perfect sense, Mayday, and so did Gunhand, and I've already had three cups of coffee, so I should know

. There is no reason a mini-series in between theatrical features would have to be tied into the plot mechanics of the film trilogy, just as not every episode of the series was a continuation of the storyline of the previous ep.

Take "Our Mrs. Reynolds" for example (and wouldn't all us guys love to...badda-bing!

). There is no reason that episode couldn't be viewed out of order, since it has no reference to any other episode before or after it, with the exception of Yo-Saf-Bridge's return in "Trash"). On the other hand, "Shindig" and "Safe" are tied together by the cattle, so they need to be viewed in that order.

A mini-series should be a storyline unrelated to any specific plotline in the BDM, more or less being a two or three episode story arc that can stand on it's own. Or another idea could be that we could get some insight into other areas of the 'verse. How about a story concerning Monty, or a flashback story of the war, or even Serenity's early adventures before the timeline of the pilot episode?

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Sunday, May 9, 2004 4:26 AM

GUNHAND

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
You made perfect sense, Mayday, and so did Gunhand, and I've already had three cups of coffee, so I should know . There is no reason a mini-series in between theatrical features would have to be tied into the plot mechanics of the film trilogy, just as not every episode of the series was a continuation of the storyline of the previous ep.

Take "Our Mrs. Reynolds" for example (and wouldn't all us guys love to...badda-bing! ). There is no reason that episode couldn't be viewed out of order, since it has no reference to any other episode before or after it, with the exception of Yo-Saf-Bridge's return in "Trash"). On the other hand, "Shindig" and "Safe" are tied together by the cattle, so they need to be viewed in that order.

A mini-series should be a storyline unrelated to any specific plotline in the BDM, more or less being a two or three episode story arc that can stand on it's own. Or another idea could be that we could get some insight into other areas of the 'verse. How about a story concerning Monty, or a flashback story of the war, or even Serenity's early adventures before the timeline of the pilot episode?

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

I'll take Mrs. Reynolds anyday!

Kidding aside...wait I wasn't kidding...So on topic then, that's a better term all I have to say is a) I'm glad I made some sorta sense since I had NO sleep at all last night and ran outta coffee.

And B) That quoted stuff up there is just gold. You nailed it. Mini-series without a definate connection to the "big plot" would be the perfect middle ground! We could have "caper" mini-series, maybe a war flashback one, maybe something with just a small story arc that would be cool to see yet not require it be in the "big picture" scale.

I like that. I like that a lot. Good work!

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging
around playing art critic till I get pinched by
the Man, how's about we move away from this
eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our
increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?"

My eerie-ass website:
http://gunhandsfirefly.homestead.com/Index.html

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Sunday, May 9, 2004 5:06 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

>I like that. I like that a lot. Good work!

I'm just happy to be doing good works.

Neroli had a good idea too, concerning the poll at serenitymovie.net. Jeremy, the guy behind that site apparently works at a company that does dvd production, and has said that his company had bid on (but lost) the right to produce the Firefly box set. The purpose behind that poll and most of what he calls "guerilla marketing" ideas were developed before we were assured of the BDM. Now that it seems there is a possibility Firefly can't return to tv for several years, his and our efforts to keep any and all hope for a series return alive is of utmost importance.

I'm gonna post about this idea on his message board too.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Sunday, May 9, 2004 6:24 AM

JUMPY

Quote:
Originally posted by Gunhand:
Quote:
Mini-series without a definate connection to the "big plot" would be the perfect middle ground! We could have "caper" mini-series, maybe a war flashback one, maybe something with just a small story arc that would be cool to see yet not require it be in the "big picture" scale.

yeh see that'd be wikid!

But I dunno. My general sentiment is that if they were to do it, would they be able to put anything related to the major storyline? And would it be worth it for everyone if they didn't?

I mean, assuming they do keep the main story going, there would be people watching the second movie (as you said) that would be lost.

If they didn't keep the main story running, wouldn't the character's development have to be stunted so that they don't have to explain too much during the second movie? Considering in nearly (if not every) episode that least one of the characters evolves in some way and that often affects the story of the next episode, would it be wise to not allow this (orat least only to a limited degree).

I like the idea personally and I'm comfortable saying all firefly fans now would love it but realistically speaking for the people watching Serenity 1 and then 2 straight after it, the story might lose its flow because of certain things that happen in between (in the mini series).

If they do these "caper" episodes or "war" ones (both good concepts) they might have to be set at least before the first Serenity movie.

Any ideas guys? I'd like to hear more on this, its very interesting!

__________________________
There's no show I'd rather see, than the one with Serenity.
You can't take the sky from me...

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Sunday, May 9, 2004 8:45 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

I have posted about this at serenitymovie.net's message board, and there I gave this list as possible storylines for the extra shows:

1. A flashback to the Alliance-Independent War
2. A flashback to the crews adventures predating the series
3. A flashback to the exodus from Earth That Was, or the early settling of the Central Planets
4. A "caper" story not directly tied to any plotlines of the feature films
5. A side story not involving the crew, such as one about Saffron, Niska, Patience, Monty, etc.

What other ideas could we come up with for plotlines?

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Sunday, May 9, 2004 8:57 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

Actually, now that I've thought about it a few more minutes, I'm afraid that options 1 or 3 would be too expensive to produce for a limited series like this. Options 2 & 4 would be able to utilize all the major sets from the BDM, but would require a higher budget than #5, since the main actors surely will be getting more money now. The supporting actors of option 5 would not cost as much, and those stories could probably be filmed on exisiting backlot sets.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Sunday, May 9, 2004 11:06 AM

JOHNCLARK

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
I have posted about this at serenitymovie.net's message board, and there I gave this list as possible storylines for the extra shows:

1. A flashback to the Alliance-Independent War

Could be interesting - though like you said, expensive. (Sort of like B5 - In the Beginning, only for Firefly)

That I would like to see. - It might also answer questions about our Preacher

---------------------------------------------
Experience has taught me that interest begets expectation, and expectation begets disappointment, so the key to avoiding disappointment is to avoid interest. A=B=C=A, or whatever

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Sunday, May 9, 2004 11:43 AM

GUNHAND

In my dream world someone would throw Joss into a studio, put a camera on him and have someone ask him lots and lots of questions about things completely unrelated to the plot.

I mean history of the 'Verse, how the ship's drives work, how the exodus from Earth that Was went down.

Lots of people would find that boring but I'd eat it up. Maybe get Arthur Kent from Histories Mysteries to do dramatic hand waving as he interviews Joss...

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging
around playing art critic till I get pinched by
the Man, how's about we move away from this
eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our
increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?"

My eerie-ass website:
http://gunhandsfirefly.homestead.com/Index.html

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Sunday, May 9, 2004 1:24 PM

MAYDAY

Thanks ecgordon, thats good to know.

As for a few plotlines, well, hows about focusing on another character from the show, like Badger (Highly underated!) or Saffron neither of which will be putting in appearances in the movie (So I'm told!).

Or here's a kicker, how about a series featuring the tenth character (As the extras on the DVD call it!) The Serenity, we already know that it's an old model firefly class transport, but who owned it before Mal did? How did it get to be lying in a breakers/used ship yard? What the hell was living in it before Mal and Zoe took their first inquisitive look at it?

The endless possibilities boggle the mind!!!!

Jayne:> Do'nt know these folk and don't much care to neither...
Mal:> They're whores.
Jayne:> I'm in!

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Sunday, May 9, 2004 1:25 PM

MAYDAY

Quote:
Originally posted by Gunhand:
Lots of people would find that boring but I'd eat it up.

Me too, sounds great!

Jayne:> Do'nt know these folk and don't much care to neither...
Mal:> They're whores.
Jayne:> I'm in!

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