At long last, Joss Whedon's "Serenity" -- the science-fiction/western movie based on his canceled TV show "Firefly" -- premieres nationwide this week ... I'm getting the weirdest sense of deja vu. Didn't I just write this?
Sort of. I wrote about the theatrical release, which was just 12 weeks ago. But "Serenity" DVDs are already on sale, even though traditionally, they shouldn't have been available until next spring. Universal is counting on the Christmas season and the movie's rabid fan base to make up for the disappointing ticket sales and it's working. Right now, "Serenity" is the No. 1 DVD at Amazon and I saw more than a few in the hands of my fellow customers at Best Buy today (we nodded to each other, with conspiratorial smiles).
The period between boffo box office debut and the discount bin at Wal-Mart is getting shorter for a variety of reasons. Studios want summer blockbusters on the shelves in time for the holidays. It's cheaper to let DVD marketing piggyback on theatrical marketing instead of paying to promote it twice. Pirated copies are on sale in Hong Kong before the movies have even finished filming. But the reason that counts is because DVDs make an embarrassing amount of money. More, in fact, than the films make in the theaters.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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You should put that in quotes. If I'd known it was just a preview of the link, I would've gone to it sooner. Nice article.
Unfortunately, I'm young, Australian and naive (not that being Australian constitutes naivity): here on hatrack is the only place I've ever heard of Firefly or Serenity, and I really havn't liked anything from Joss Whedon in the past, so that might be the case forever.
Posts: 1138 | Registered: Nov 2005
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cheiros - there's a huge Firefly/Serenity following in Australia (and you're getting a two-disc version of the movie in February, you lucky blokes). Check out the Serenity Oz site for more info and local rabid fans.
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Great column as usual, Chris. I love that you keep sneaking Serenity/Firefly into your columns while actually writing about a different (but related) topic.
Posts: 1805 | Registered: Jun 1999
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Oh, point 'em out, by all means. I can fix 'em.
xnera - I could hear my editor sighing when he read this, with a Jeez, is he writing about this movie again? sound to it, so I'm guessing this'll be the last mention. For awhile, anyway.
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quote:Originally posted by theCrowsWife: I'm feeling guilty that I didn't see Serenity in the theatre
--Mel
Why didn't you? Have you seen it yet? If not you're missing out!
I wanted to watch the series first, but it was perpetually checked out at the movie rental place. I know that lots of people said that the movie was still good without seeing the series, but I'm just compulsive that way.
I thought about going to see it when I was visiting my mom in Yuma, as she would provide free babysitting for my daughter. There were even people to go with, as JemmyGrove was looking for people to see it with him. However, I suspected that my husband would enjoy the series/movie as well so I didn't want to see it without him.
I haven't seen it yet, but my copy should arrive today or tomorrow. My husband is working his way through the series right now, so I'll be waiting for him to finish before we watch the movie. I figure that with a couple of marathons on his days off, we should be able to watch the movie on Christmas.
posted
Along the same vein of improving theater going -- add a child care area. I would go to a lot more movies if I could drop my daughter with a bunch of other little kids. Yes, I can and do get a babysitter for the nights we manage to plan ahead enough to go out, but often, for us it works out much better if we can just GO. Which is why we see so very few movies in the theater.
Plus, it would keep from having to turn away parents who *don't* get a babysitter and bring little Joey to their favorite R rated film. I'd love to see theater owners disallow children under 7 to movies PG-13 or greater.
All that said, I saw Serenity in the theater (without my daughter), without having seen any of the series, and remember saying out loud when it was over: WOW. Now that I've seen the series, I can't WAIT to see the movie again. Hopefully it will come today. Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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We netflixed the series and got it done in time to finish it before seeing Serenity. Which probably made our experience better in some ways-- and worse in others. I would have seen it in theaters twice if it had cost less than $18 for two of us.
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