Serenity the Sequel or TV show?

POSTED BY: TragicStory
UPDATED: Monday, April 12, 2004 20:18
VIEWED: 9732
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TRAGICSTORY

Friday, April 9, 2004 7:11 PM

Which do you think is more likely to happen? A sequel or the TV show? Thinking about this from a Universal's exec point of view would you make a sequel or hand it over to Sci-Fi or UPN to start up the series again?

I personally think that they (evil execs/hollywood types) are stringing Joss along promising a TV sereis after in order to get him to write an open ended movie which can then be "plugged" with a hack job of a sequel before it is buried for good.

Yes, I know I am cynical and thinking evil thoughts, I learned it from Fox.

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"Societies are supported by human activity, therefore they are constantly threatened by the human facts of self-intrest and stupidity." --Peter Berger

BROWNCOAT1

Friday, April 9, 2004 7:31 PM

See to me it doesn't make much sense to spend the money on a movie and gamble it is a success, just to hope to make sequels. It also doesn't add up that Universal would ask Joss to rewrite his script to act as a "springboard" for a television series if they only intend to make movies.

Since Universal owns Sci Fi channel, and with Stargate SG1 going into its final season this fall, I think Universal will be looking to add a show like Firefly, which comes w/ an established fanbase, to its line up in 2005 or 2006.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

TRAGICSTORY

Friday, April 9, 2004 7:56 PM

1. They are not gambling that the movie will be a sucess. I guarantee they have done front end evaluation and have the data to back up that this will make them money.

2. Joss wanted to wrap things up in the BDM. EVERY movie after Porky's 2 that made any decent profit has spawned a sequel. If Joss wraps things up, then it it very hard to make a sequel. "And they lived happily ever after..." doesn't cut it as far as moeny making sequels. So what do the Execs do? Blow smoke up Joss a** telling him what he wants to hear so he will rewrite the movie with an open ending. He thinks he is getting his show back, the execs know they are getting thier sequel.

3. The real question towards your line of arguement is "How well do the different branches of the Universal family work together or is there real rivalry?" (I would guess the latter) Do you think that Universal would give up a practically guaranteed money making sequel for a TV show that would profit another division or do you think it more likly that the CEO of Universal will keep this little cash cow for him/herself?

4. Sci-fi has lots of options to go with. Right of the top of my head I would say they could go in the direction of Adult Swim and Toonami (both of which have VERY strong numbers) I don't see them realistically giong for a show that was previously cancelled when there is so much already made material out there. You have to remember that this is going to be decided on numbers and reputation and not a lot of weight is going to be given to talent. Joss and Tim (assuming Tim is aboard the tv series again) now booth have a record/reputation of flops which makes getting sponsors hard as they too only care about numbers.

So with all the things against it, I see the simplest and most lucrative solution (for the execs) is to just make a sequel and not a series.

****I am playing devil's advocate so no hate mail please******

Now two questions:
Anyone know of a series that was turned into a movie and then ressurected as a series?

Who owns the rights to Firefly or better yet, how much control does Joss have? Can he just take it and walk or does it no longer belong to him in any way?

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"Societies are supported by human activity, therefore they are constantly threatened by the human facts of self-intrest and stupidity." --Peter Berger

ASTRIANA

Friday, April 9, 2004 8:09 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TragicStory:
****I am playing devil's advocate so no hate mail please******

Seriously, no snarkiness intended here... If you're playing devil's advocate by arguing AGAINST a new series and in favor of a sequel, could you also flip the coin and argue FOR a new series AND a sequel?

~A~

...I'm still free,
You can't take the sky from me.

JGSUGDEN

Friday, April 9, 2004 8:19 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TragicStory:
****I am playing devil's advocate so no hate mail please******

Now two questions:
Anyone know of a series that was turned into a movie and then ressurected as a series?

Who owns the rights to Firefly or better yet, how much control does Joss have? Can he just take it and walk or does it no longer belong to him in any way?

--Peter Berger

Networks are intereted n series that can go 100 episodes and do well in syndication. That is why Angel was cancelled this season: It reached 100 episodes, but it looked to be failing as a syndication option, so it was bypassed. Fox would have been far wiser to hold off on syndicating it until it could be paired with Buffy on FX, reenergizing the Buffy viewings and supporting a stronger base for Angel views ... Anyhoo ...

Series -> Movie -> Series? Charlie's Angels is returning as a series. Mission Impossible may soon return as a series (3rd version). You won't find many, if any, more examples of this (especially involving a series that didn't reach a full season in its first run), but there are a plethora of series which inspired a very similar movie which inspired a very similar series.

The problem with that idea is that movies are more profitable than TV. If it is a success as a movie, they'll rarely be able to steal the rights away to make a series. Here, if Joss manages to hold onto enough of the rights or the actors are *unwilling* to make more movies (in favor of a series), you might be able to see something happen. Might.

Joss owns very little of Firefly. As I understand it, he is deeply attached emotionally and creatively, but other people make the creative calls and have the ability to bury Firefly if they choose. I'm not fully briefed on the situation, but as I understand it, if Universal decided that a new Firefly series might get in the way of one of their series, they could keep Firefly down, even if another network was ready to pay a gross amount to put a new series on the air.

Firefly was designed to be a series. It was designed to last a number of years. Joss thinks years in advance for shows (as the Dark Willow saga of season 6 Buffy was hinted at in season 2). Joss is writing this movie to wrap up a number of those lose ends, but there will still be plenty of things left unwrapped.

We'll know what River is by the end of the movie, but we won't know everything she'll do with her abilities. We'll know who Book really is, but we won't know if our trust in him is wise. We'll know the secrets of Inara's past, but we won't see her and Mal reach a happily ever after. There will be a lot of stories left unfinished, ripe ground for a sequal or a series.

If you're looking for a future series, you want to hope for a movie that does moderately well: well enough to almost warrant a sequal movie. There is a very narrow range where it is not good enough to hold over for a sequal movie, but good enough to try throwing it out there as a series again.

SAMURAIX47

Friday, April 9, 2004 8:29 PM

Battlestar Galatica... series, one season, cancelled.

BSG miniseries on Sci-fi.

coming soon
BSG series on Sci-Fi.

It took them long enough.

Jaymes

LIZ

Friday, April 9, 2004 8:31 PM

Quote:
Now two questions:
Anyone know of a series that was turned into a movie and then ressurected as a series?

well star trek of course, though not in the same incarnation, but that's it. I read alot about this sort of thing after Family Guy came out on DVD because it was the first time ever that a tv show that was cancelled came back to tv due almost exclusively to sales of copies of that show (the DVD set). i know it's not back yet but it is already in production.
what it comes down to is that media is changing and so it would be perfectly reasonable for Universal to bring Firefly back to tv, as long as that is the most lucrative choice.

SPOOKYJESUS

Friday, April 9, 2004 8:40 PM

Like everything else in show business it comes down to money.

As I'm sure I've posted elsewhere - Serenity has to gross 105 million dollars (35m X 3) for it to be considered profitable, much less a success.

If the movie makes that in it's first week, and more profit there after, we'll be getting a movie franchise and not a TV one - end of story.

If the movie makes say 90 million and picks up the other 15 mill in DVD sales a TV series is likely - but so's a lower budget sequel commissioned with the expectation that sequels make more money than the original.

If it makes around 80 mill + another 10 mill in DVD sales a TV route would be more likely. But we'd be waiting a few years for that to happen.

Also, remember two things -

1) Fox still own the TV rights to Firefly (I think anyway.....

2) Movie Directors rarely do TV work outside of the executive prod. catagory - but then again Joss isn't like most other directors (yet). I don't know, I've been watching alot of Steven Speilberg movies lately and Joss directs a lot like him - I MEAN A LOT! (the lighting, timing of jokes, iconography ect.) - so who knows where his career will go.......

EMBERS

Friday, April 9, 2004 9:04 PM

are we sure Fox owns the rights to a Firefly TV show? I thought that when a network cancels a show this quickly they lose rights and the show belongs to the original producers...

of course I guess these things can differ a lot from one contract to the next..

MISGUIDED BY VOICES

Friday, April 9, 2004 9:10 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Spookyjesus:
As I'm sure I've posted elsewhere - Serenity has to gross 105 million dollars (35m X 3) for it to be considered profitable, much less a success.

That's US - if it breaks $100 million in the US, they'll be singing in the aisles because you can double that world wide and with DVD sales.

Quote:

If the movie makes say 90 million and picks up the other 15 mill in DVD sales a TV series is likely - but so's a lower budget sequel commissioned with the expectation that sequels make more money than the original.

The general rule is the sequel makes less and costs more - save that they now start locking in the stars for two or three movies when they sniff franchise. Will Spidey 2 be a failure if it doesn't break $800 mill? No, but its going to have to go some to repeat the orignial's success. The usual rule is more money to make the sequel if the first did okay, but not great, on the basis that you have a running start.

"I threw up on your bed"

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