Firefly

Dear ’Serenity’ Fans ...

Ah, there is nothing like the wrath of a geek scorned. After filing reports the past few weeks on July’s San Diego Comic-Con, the Hitlist inbox was flooded with e-mails similar to the following:

Josina: "You missed covering the best event of the Con! The premiere of the movie, ’Serenity’! Best movie I’ve seen all year! Let’s hear more about the fabulous standing ovation that film got."

Angelina: "I’m shocked that there was no mention of ’Serenity,’ the fact that creator Joss Whedon and the entire cast (minus one) attended or that an early viewing of the movie was made available (to a lucky handful) on Saturday. Tsk-tsk ..."

In fact, it turns out my reluctance to mention the film was even a subject of a posting on the official Browncoats message board (thanks for the traffic, guys). Now, if you feel out of the loop, don’t worry — here is a little back-story.

In 2002, Joss Whedon, creator of TV’s "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," produced a new television series for FOX called "Firefly." Set 500 years in the future, the show followed the adventures of a rag-tag team of mercenaries as they travel around the galaxy. After 11 episodes, the show was abruptly cancelled. However, when the DVD of the show was released the following year, it stunned everyone by selling over 200,000 copies. Whedon then decided to make a movie to resolve the show’s storylines. He called it "Serenity," Universal greenlit the project and the movie will be released this September.

Unfortunately, for the legion of "Firefly" fans out there, the mainstream media hasn’t jumped on this bandwagon yet. In fact, beyond the core fan base, you could make the argument that the general public doesn’t have a clue the movie is even on the way. That’s partially due to the fact that the movie has no recognizable movie (let alone TV) stars in it or an out-of-the-box premise. Meanwhile, Universal has decided to focus on pumping up the fans first by showing the movie months before release in exclusive paid screenings that sold out all across the country (Nothing like getting fans to spread the good buzz to all the other "Firefly" fans). Budgeted at a relatively low $40 million, only a certain percentage of the fans that bought the "Firefly" DVD need to see the movie for it to make a profit. As for the uninitiated, well, there is still plenty of time for the studio to spread the word to rest of America.

In fact, we might as well start now. Check out this exclusive behind-the-scenes look at “Serenity” for an even more in-depth look at the new flick.

Now, let’s get to the reason "Serenity" was not discussed in the Hitlist’s Comic-Con coverage. While every other studio made talent available for interviews before or after their presentations, Universal sadly did not. And while the packed "Serenity" panel was taking place, interviews for movies such as "Aeon Flux," and "Underworld: Evolution" were underway at the same time. Additionally, the press was not invited to the screening of the movie, but that only allowed more fans to get in (so no complaints about that).

Don’t worry though, Universal has assured the Hitlist it will get invited to the official press day closer to release. So expect the low down on the movie from the cast and Whedon sometime in September.

I hope the movie’s good. Can’t imagine the response if the Hitlist didn’t like it.

"Serenity" opens nationwide on September 30.