Serenity opens at #5 in Germany—All now depends on DVD
POSTED BY: StakeTheLurk
UPDATED: Thursday, December 1, 2005 23:25
VIEWED: 14604
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Quote:
Originally posted by StakeTheLurk:
If the movie does poorly, the ‘verse is dead on any screen. Dead. Why? Because “Firefly” was and still largely is considered a failure by the industry.
So you're saying that it means nothing when the Firefly series DVD set - years after its release - is still topping the Amazon charts?
It means nothing when Firefly is still one of the best-selling DVDs of any kind right now, far outpacing the brand-new (and much less expensive) Serenity movie DVD in sales?
You can't tell me no one in Hollywood notices that. It's obvious that the TV series has a kind of appeal that the movie did not, and people are saying so with their wallets.
Don't get me wrong - the movie was worthwhile. It led a lot of people to discover the TV series.
---
"If wishes were horses, we'd all be eatin' steak."
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I plan on buying 4 copies (Christmas presents) and one to donate to my library. Great Idea! 
Can anybody think of other places we could donate copies to? I worked at a nursing home for a short time and I know they won't let the residents watch anything that not "HAPPY". So thats out,....does anybody know if hospitals could use a copy? Think people 
! where else can we give copies to????
...it's worst than you know...Operative
...it usually is.....Mal
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Quote:
due to the massive pirating that occurs there
Well, you're certainly right about the pirating, but the govt. is really trying hard to crack down on it now, even in our little town deep in the interior. I'm in two minds about it, though, because the price of a "real" DVD is a student's eating money for a month here, which means only the wealthiest people will be able to watch movies if the crackdown succeeds.
Thanks for explaining things---I really appreciate the chance to share opinions with others about this. I don't know why I should care so much about the success of this film which I've never seen---Joss & his Firefly crew seem to inspire astonishing loyalty in us ordinary folk.
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Firstly all you Guerrilla marketers out there, I think you have done a fine job. However, I have never seen a more badly advertised movie here in England than Serenity. Viral marketing may have worked for the Blair Witch Project but it is way out of date now. I just bought the German version of Firefly for a mate in Krefeld Germany and he is really enjoying it. However the Firefly DVD set was only released a month ago in Germany, so no one is going to really know the series there, so I don't expect spectacular ticket sales for the movie.
The adverts that were done for the movie only showed on the sci-fi channel, which would have been seen only by people who already new the show. They missed a golden opportunity to go on 'Friday Night with Jonathan Ross' who I am sure would have been happy to see them as Mr. Ross loved the movie.
Instead they had some of the cast go on boring old GMTV, which airs when everyone has already gone to work or school. Who ever did the marketing here in the U.K, really didn't know what they were doing, and the movie somehow reached number one, but if done properly it would have been there for much longer as there was nothing good on at the cinema besides it.
What I would like to see happen now is to really advertise the DVD of the movie in newspapers, on websites (if that’s possible), in Sci-Fi magazines, and cost permitting on the TV on BBC (equivalent type channels in other countries) not on a digitally scrambled TV station that only the enlightened watch. As the movie has already been in the Theatres they could show more of it to truly entice new viewers to see it, and look past the ridiculously busy DVD cover they have created. However due to the poor advertising (not the browncoats) and mediocre ticket sales there is likely going to be only a small budget for marketing the DVD.
Such a shame, Jewel may have got closure with being able to make this movie after the cancelled TV series, but I will miss it a hell of a lot, there were so many stories that weren’t told. Don’t get me wrong when and if they make another movie I am sure Jewel will step up and reprise her roll, I am not knocking her, it’s just something she said at the recent Starfury event.
You know I always wonder whether Joss tells the cast what statements to make in regards to the movie, the idea of him pulling the strings in the background to rally us troops really agrees with me.
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Hello all,
I don't recall seeing any advertising for the Serenity movie in Boise, Idaho USA, and had never watched the Firefly series. I went to see Serenity after reading the description on Edward Cinemas on-line showtime listing. It sounded interesting and after watching it I was of course hooked.
A few days later I went to see it again with several friends and they were also impressed. I've talked with a lot of people and most have said they've seen the movie so word of mouth seems to have performed better than any paid advertising.
It was bittersweet to learn the movie Serenity originated from the TV series Firefly since the series was prematurely canceled. I'm in the process of catching up on all of the episodes at the moment. I found it it amazing the series was as good as the movie and vis versa.
Which brings me to wonder why it was ever canceled in the first place? The concept was origional, had a great cast with loads of opportunity for side stories, excellent believeable spacial special effects and the potential to rival other long term space faring series.
But without dwelling on the why, I'd like to know if there is any news of revitalizing the series or hope a sequel to Serenity (which was thankfully left wide open).
What can one more person do to help?
Gwiz
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Hi Gwiz,
Mainly fans of Firefly Universe will lend out there DVD sets to friends and colleagues to get them interested in the series. I have lost count on how many times I have lent my copy out. This will also be true for the Serenity DVD, which you can already pre-order in the States with its release date of 20th of December via Amazon.com. Of course a sequel now seems to hang on the knife edge of the DVD sales for the movie, so you could purchase several copies and give as Xmas presents to help make it hit No.1 in the charts. Hopefully the people you give it to will also get this movie and go back for the TV box set like you did.
In regards to why the show was cancelled, there were several reasons:
1. It was put in a time slot that was late in the evening, more than likely against established programs with lots of viewers.
2. They never aired the original pilot also called 'Serenity', but started with Train Job.
3. Due to this people viewing the program had a lot to sort out plot wise that the 2 hour pilot explained perfectly.
4. They showed the episodes out of sequence again baffling the viewer.
5. Finally they canceled it due to viewing figures although they were constantly growing but at a slow rate.
6. In the end they did show the original pilot but the show was already cancelled by that stage.
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I think stright to DVD movies has a future, especially with all the hype around selling shows on the Internet. If Universal is smart, they'll be the first to offer an Internet-only hit series.
The Trio cable channle is going off cable and becoming the first Internet-only network, perhaps they'll pick it up.
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DVD sales will go like this. There will be a huge rush on the release date. It might hit Number 1 for that week; there's nothing big out. But it's also right before Christmas, so a lot of the big big big DVD releases for the last year will also see a boost in sales.
After that, sales will drop but will probably remain steady like the Firefly DVD has. (Side note... I was in Best Buy a few days before Thanksgiving and they had about 8 copies of the Firefly DVD on the shelf. That's the first time I've ever seen more than 2... and it's more copies than they usually have of any TV show that's not a new release. Either someone at the store is a huge fan or there are people that notice how well it is selling).
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."
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Quote:
Originally posted by Quietude:
Hi Gwiz,
In regards to why the show was cancelled, there were several reasons:
1. It was put in a time slot that was late in the evening, more than likely against established programs with lots of viewers.
2. They never aired the original pilot also called 'Serenity', but started with Train Job.
3. Due to this people viewing the program had a lot to sort out plot wise that the 2 hour pilot explained perfectly.
4. They showed the episodes out of sequence again baffling the viewer.
5. Finally they canceled it due to viewing figures although they were constantly growing but at a slow rate.
6. In the end they did show the original pilot but the show was already cancelled by that stage.
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You also forgot to mention they pre-empted the show a number of times during its short run for sports events. That also made the viewers lose track of when it was on and what was going on.
I just introduced 2 new people last weekend to Firefly and they couldn't get enough!! So now they will get their own copies of the movie and the series for the holidays!
---------
"See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart."
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Quote:
Originally posted by StakeTheLurk:
The BDM has finally opened in what’s probably the last big overseas market (Japan has cancelled distribution), and it hasn’t been doing so great (see: http://whedonesque.com/comments/8868). Here’s what Gossi, a poster at Whedonesque with contacts at Universal and UIP, had to say:Quote:Looks like it's down to the DVD, like we’ve suspected for a while. But Serenity hasn’t even hit #1 in the US yet, much less internationally. Like Gossi said, if anyone’s got an idea how to do this, please speak up now.
Originally posted by gossi on Whedonesque:
Reuters report places it 5th with $406759 USD.
Which is better than 9th, but still quite bad. Apparently parts of Germany had very bad weather this weekend which will have effected the outcome (snow storms).
By the way, if anybody is in Japan, I believe the distributor is planning to do a one off cinema screening for fans in December as a thank you.
I've spoken to people from both Universal and UIP over the last few days, the general feeling they give is that they need to DVD to go internationally #1 now to secure a sequel, so if anybody has any idea how to achieve that, I'm all ears.
In good news, also, it appears Blockbuster US is planning to carry Serenity now.
…
Total is $36m'ish at mo. I think it'll finish around $38m in terms of box office, which is about on target with estimates from a while ago.
Serenity sure would make a nice chrismas present for alot of friends.Every little bet helps
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