Perspective of SERENITY dropping to #8.

Monday, October 10, 2005 3:28 AM

Well, it's Sunday night of the second weekend of SERENITY's release, and we got creamed. Tell you the truth, I wasn't really that surprised. You factor in the time of year it was released, the fact that genre flicks like this drop half their audience the second weekend around, the experimental marketing campaign in a time where even regular campaigns don't work and everything else, it was almost foolish to think that we'd have a $30 or $40 million dollar opening weekend.

But I'm not sad by this. If anything I find it fitting. It actually made me think of the second to last scene in one of my favorite movies, THE COMMITMENTS. It's after when the band has basically self-destructed and Jimmy the Rabbit is walking home, dejected by the whole thing, and he has this one last confrontation with Joey "The Lips" Fagin.

JOEY: Jimmy. You want a ride?

JIMMY: Piss off.

JOEY: Oh don't take it personally, Jimmy. They'll all come crawling back.

JIMMY: They can crawl up their holes for all I care.

JOEY: "Oh sing unto the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things." Psalm 98.

JIMMY: You lied to me Joey. I always bought anything you told us, and I was probably the only one who ever did. But you lied to me.

JOEY: I'm sorry you doubt me, brother Rabbitte. Look, I know you're hurtin' now, but in time you'll realize what you've achieved.

JIMMY: I've achieved nothing.

JOEY: You're missing the point. Success of the band was irrelevant. You raised their expectations of life. You lifted their horizons. Sure, we could've been famous and made albums and stuff, but that would have been predictable. This way, it's poetry.

JIMMY: It's a pisser is what it is, Joey.

And that's how I feel about the whole thing. Yes, after three years of blood, sweat and tears, we arn't the new STAR WARS or MATRIX or a $100 million dollar blockbuster. But to tell you the truth, it shouldn't matter. We managed to give Joss, Nathan, Gina, Alan, Adam, Morena, Jewel, Sean, Summer and Ron a chance to tie up loose ends and to give SERENITY one last flight. We raised expectations and hopes for everyone who knows or have heard about the show. We've shown the industry that a fan base can be loud enough to resurrect what was perceived as a dead property. If you think about it, we are a success story even without the money.

And so what even if wern't a blockbuster. There have been countless movies that have had minor success in theatres but over the years have become institutes unto themselves. Once the DVD hits, then we'll really show how much of a hit we all know it is.

FIREFLY/SERENITY is a legend as it is. And legends never die.

P.S. And on a personal note, now that Jewel and Sean are not huge celebrities with million dollar pricetags, I can afford them for when I make my indie flicks.

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