Firefly

Joss Whedon Seeks "Serenity"

by Sarah Hall

Mar 3, 2004, 11:30 PM PT

No more Angel? Serenity, now!

After the WB’s surprise cancellation of his Buffy-spinoff last month, a devastated Joss Whedon found himself without a pet project.

But Whedon didn’t lick his wounds for long. He’s now at work on developing his defunct television series Firefly, into the feature film Serenity.

The futuristic action-adventure film will be the directorial debut for the man famed for bringing Buffy’s vampire-slaying antics to living rooms everywhere.

"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," said Universal vice-chairmen of production Mary Parent and Scott Stuber in a statement.

"Joss is a true creator, whose talent crosses all mediums. His mythic worlds are inhabited with rich, detailed and very human creatures. 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."

Firefly enjoyed a cult following during its short-lived run on Fox’s airwaves, but unfortunately it didn’t earn the ratings to keep it afloat.

The series glowed again upon its release on DVD last December, inspiring Universal to give Whedon the big screen go-ahead.

Whedon will both write and direct the film, which will be produced by Barry Mendel, whose credits include The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable.

Chris Buchanan, president of Whedon’s Mutant Enemy production company, and Alisa Tager of Barry Mendel Productions will share executive producing credits.

Whedon will be working with a familiar crew of actors, as many Firefly cast members will reprise their roles for Serenity.

The film centers on a veteran captain of a galactic war, who, with a small crew, rents out his ship, Serenity, for the purposes of transport-for-hire and pulling off small crimes.

When the captain takes on two new passengers, he soon learns that they are hotly pursued fugitives from the coalition controlling the universe.

A whole host of trouble follows for the captain and his fearless crew, as they find themselves the prey of evil forces that they are ill equipped to evade.

Production on Serenity is slated to begin this year.