It's now or never.... Right....?

POSTED BY: THESOMNAMBULIST
UPDATED: Monday, May 28, 2012 18:11
VIEWED: 12241
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SHINYGOODGUY

Saturday, May 12, 2012 11:08 AM

Sleepy you have great enthusiasm and all-around general old-fashioned vision. That's how I view it, lol.

With the coin Joss has laid at Disney's bank vault (Avengers is expected to hit the $1B mark this weekend), they may throw him a bone. I'll go ya' one further - why not a joint venture, a la Hulu style, between Disney, Fox and Universal. Each contributes 1/3 of the bank for either a TV series, movie sequels or mini-series (sharing the profit in equal thirds, with the remaining 1% going to Joss - damn, I'm good!). Plus your animation idea, as an offshoot of the Firefly/Serenity franchise, would create a new revenue stream for the venture. All the execs gotta do is play nice.

Don't think for a moment that the execs are not thinking of the same exact thing - "we gotta strike while the iron is hot" scenario. They want to make money as well, and right now, they see dollar $ign$! KAaaa-CHING! My take is, it would be foolish of them NOT to cook up such a scenario - especially now that they see gold shooting out of Joss' arse.

SGG

"You're right Ugatti, I am a little more impressed with you"

SHINYGOODGUY

Saturday, May 12, 2012 11:25 AM

Yeah, what Z said - Great Thread. I was hoping that the Avengers would catch fire, for that very reason.

My fellow Browncoats, brace yourselves!

"I'm of a mind to make some woogie.............Bobby, phone book"

SHINYGOODGUY

Saturday, May 12, 2012 11:30 AM

TRY THE PROZAC, it's delicious!!!

Ha!

SGG

"Connie, that's an oxymoron"
"Awww, lay off Connie Dr. Poole, he does the best he can."

SHINYGOODGUY

Saturday, May 12, 2012 1:28 PM

Oh, so we're being realistic now, are we? Okay, I'll bite.

A) Anyone could have made it? Guaranteed success? The vast majority?

Have we forgotten the rather disappointing failure of the third installment of the X-Men series not too long ago (2006)grossing $549M worldwide. Okay, it was the highest grossing of the 3 X-Men films, but I believe it was helped along by the groundwork laid by X-Men, and the superior X-Men: United ($407M), the second installment of the franchise, directed by Bryan Singer.

Why do I bring up X-Men? Because it is a Marvel franchise. Because it was directed by anybody - Bryan Singer (Usual Suspects, Superman Returns, and the upcoming Battlestar Galactica). Because Brett Ratner directed X-Men: Last Stand, the Rush Hour franchise and the more recent Tower Heist. Money isn't everything.....it's the only thing in Hollywood (apologies to Vince Lombardi). But there are more things that make a movie successful, IMHO. Is it widely accepted and is it critically acclaimed, these terms are not always mutually exclusive. Success is fickle. Look at the SpiderMan franchise, a can't miss phenomenom, until SpiderMan 3.

No my friend success is not guaranteed, remember Serenity, which got mixed reviews and barely broke even in the box office, Universal invested because of Joss' cult following behind Firefly. It is, to me, a magical combination, a marriage if you will, of the right script, the right cast and the right vehicle. The Avengers was written and directed by the right person at the right time, with the right cast, carefully produced and crafted by the folks that brought you the critically and financially successful Iron Man. Was Iron Man a perfect film, not on your life, but it struck a chord with moviegoers. And now, lightning has struck twice.

The Avengers has struck a chord with moviegoers of all ages, gender and religious belief. At the showing I went to I saw young and old, men and women alike leaving the theatre laughing, chuckling and smiling. There wasn't an empty seat to be had. It is my pleasure to inform you that Joss Whedon, the cast, the producers and company have hit the motherload. His script was brilliant, not perfect, just brilliant. The rest is, as they say, cake. I'm not sure who said it but, "it always begins with the story."

The vast majority, and there were truckloads, vote with their dollars. And, in some way, they do decide the fate of most movie franchises at the box office. Despite being panned, for the most part, the Twilight Saga continues along their merry way. Robocop 2&3! Alien Resurrection! Pirates of the Caribbean 5! All successful franchises? Who decides?
Is it moviegoers or the Hollywood execs. The vast majority, for the most part, don't care who directed a film as long as they had a good time. Then again, there is Serenity. The Alien franchise - Ridley Scott has filmed Prometheus, a prequel. Do you think it matters to people? You bet it does. And the people who make the decisions to greenlight a project care too (as long as it makes money), but make no mistake - they decide.

B) BTW, I'm sorry but Cabin in the Woods, as of May 10, has grossed over $53.2M worldwide ($38.8M domestically). How is that considered underperforming? As someone correctly stated, it is a niche film geared toward horror and Joss fans, with no known stars. It may not have set box office records, but apples and oranges! One thing is certain it has been well received by critics and audiences alike.

C) Jury's still out on that one. Of course, he has Air Bud on his mind.

D) I give you that one. But, in Hollywood, money talks. Besides this is not happening tomorrow.

Bottom line: Anyone who is at the helm of a Billion Dollar Cruise ship will be lighting cigars with the Big Boys, who will desperately be trying to whisk him away to work on a project at their studio. A billion dollars in 2 weeks is nothing to sneeze at; flops notwithstanding.

SGG

"I'll buy that for a dollar"

SHINYGOODGUY

Saturday, May 12, 2012 1:54 PM

Bytemite, you make a strong case. There are so many variables in this theme of this thread, one cannot throw a blanket over it and say "there, got it."

Joss may, or may not, pursue Firefly/Serenity. Everything we discuss here is speculative. To me there is broad appeal for the story of Firefly, mainly because, as you correctly state, "we're still here." That, in and of itself, says alot.

The question is will the success of The Avengers catapult Joss into the Spielberg stratosphere of influence in Hollywood. I say they will look at his track record, but a Billion dollars goes a long way in La La Land.

SGG

"Oh, and one more thing.........defend yourself"

SHINYGOODGUY

Saturday, May 12, 2012 1:59 PM

Sleepy, I think you're right.

"I could show you the door, but you gotta walk through it."

SHINYGOODGUY

Saturday, May 12, 2012 2:28 PM

True that. The actors were not well known at the time, neither was the story. And despite Joss' success with BTVS, neither was Joss.

I had a conversation with a co-worker about the Avengers, which he loved, and I told him about CITW. I said it was the same director involved, as well as with Firefly/Serenity. He was somewhat surprised, only because he didn't know. He did say he was a Buffy fan, but he wasn't a devoted follower of Joss' work. It's my thinking that there are many like him who are casual fans that don't blog or post daily, read a ton of comic books or shamelessly follow the actors of a failed TV show.

He confessed to me that, although he had heard of Firefly, he never gave it a second thought. Now he wants to watch the episodes. Proper marketing can make or break a series or movie.

Despite the fact that Fox has moved and changed the time slot of Fringe, it is still one of it's strongest programs on TV today. It's a combination of marketing, brilliant writing and strong characters. It is the program Fox could not kill.

SGG

"Well, it ain't Ozzie and Harriet. Turn left here dear."

BYTEMITE

Saturday, May 12, 2012 2:59 PM

The movie rights and that part of the franchise are back in Fox studios' hands. The more hands are in the pie, the harder it'll be to negotiate, so that's probably a good thing it's all under one roof again.

THESOMNAMBULIST

Saturday, May 12, 2012 3:11 PM

Shiny that was HUGELY entertaining! A better stream of posts I have not seen. It ran like a stand up performance. You had me laughing and applauding at your vision.

Brilliant!

Cheers

°...Well here I am.°

FIREFLYPASSENGER

Sunday, May 13, 2012 6:40 AM

I love the fact that just by the thread title I knew what it was about.

Joss is juggling a lot. I'm a believer that if Joss can Joss will.
However someone, in a suit needs to ask him to make more.
Unless of course Joss suits up and makes it happen.

I believe Joss has a lot to give and I'm here for the long haul.

Keep flyin'

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