I wonder if they are going to let him do the voice also this time.

Very good casting though.

Ledfeather | September 30, 12:18 CET

A second one? The first one merited a sequel? I want Serenity 2 :(

TychoCelchuuu | September 30, 15:38 CET

Mentally adds Doug to the list of Whedonverse actors who've been in movies that have pulled in a ton of money at the box office. I think Alan Tudyk may be in pole position with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan somewhere lagging behind.

Simon | September 30, 16:57 CET

Actually Simon, you forgot Seth Green (Austin Powers) and Alyson Hannigan (American Pie) both have been in movies that have been huge box office hits. I think both may be way ahead of Sarah. Kinda doubting anyone passing up Seth though.

RavenU | September 30, 19:21 CET

That both Fantastic Four and Hellboy merited sequels and Serenity (so far) didn't, speaks to the fact that what really brings people to the theater is familiarity, not quality.

Hmpf.

zencat | September 30, 20:01 CET

worldwide box office of Whedonverse performers:

____name_____________ gross____________ avg.

Rance Howard_______ $2,981,025,060______ $45,396,678
Alan Tudyk _________ $1,963,415,648______ $92,809,613
Seth Green __________$1,834,630,294______ $45,322,839
Doug Jones __________$1,381,076,540_____ $47,264,531
My Sarah __________ $876,555,743 _______ $64,462,959
Alyson Hannigan_____ $763,138,141 _______ $72,777,500

Apologies for crooked columns. Opie's dad was in the Angel ep Carpe Noctum.

jaynelovesvera | September 30, 21:56 CET

That was Opie's dad? Shit...guess the apple fell mighty far from the tree;)

And it's amazing to think Alan's got the lead of the Jossverse protagonists. But then again, I haven't sat down to watch Dodgeball or I, Robot yet:(

BlueEyedBrigadier | September 30, 23:38 CET

I didn't hate the first Fantastic Four. I figure (and hope) it might be like the X-flicks, with the first being kinda "eh", Buffy Season 1-ish, laying the foundationg, and the second film drastically improving on everything. Went in expecting badness and ended up having some fun with it. Michael Chiklis (The Shield) and Chris Evans (teen movies) were spot on as Ben Grimm/Thing and Johnny Storm/Human Torch, respectively. Ioan Gruffold (sp?) was kinda underwhelming as a decidedly younger Reed Richards, but he did okay. Jessica Alba sucked as Sue/Invisible Girl and that's one of the major things that hurt the movie. Julian McMahon, who is amazing on Nip/Tuck was mindbogglingly awful and boring as Dr. Doom.

Kris | September 30, 23:53 CET

You forgot a few people

person - worldwide gross - avg.
Gina Torres - $1,220,447,850 - $93,084,922
Adam Baldwin - $1,318,516,159 - $46,183,100

RavenU | September 30, 23:57 CET

Thanks, Ravenu. Somebody needs to keep me in line.

BlueEyedBrigadier, Opie's mom, Jean Speegle Howard, played the real Mrs. French in the BtVS ep Teacher's Pet. And Opie's little brother Clint, of Gentle Ben fame, has appeared in films raking in more than their dad.

jaynelovesvera | October 01, 01:13 CET

Not Joss-related per se, but just wanted to point out that Doug Jones was also Abe Sapien in the Hellboy film and is playing the title character in Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth".

Haunt | October 01, 08:51 CET

My biggest problem with Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm was his hands. He had no control over the pinky finger so when ever he picked something up it stuck out like he was drinking tea or something. They should have motorized it or cgi'd it like they did Hellboys.

Ledfeather | October 01, 12:43 CET

Kris IMO your assessment of the first Fantastic Four movie is spot on.

zencat So true!

Passion | October 01, 16:10 CET

zencat, I think that might be a bit harsh. Familiarity as in name brand, quality/content, or advertisement? Hellboy I always figured was fairly obscure until the (decent-ish/okay) movie came out.

Serenity would obviously lose out given advertisements in mind however. Fantastic Four is already starting off with a fairly familiar set of characters, familiar (if not always suitable) actors, and a promotional budget so huge that it was unavoidable. Even in foreign countries they paid to cover entire subways and trains with a passenger car dedicated to each character in an optimal release time. (I forget if it really was released on the day, but they did make a big deal about the Fantastic Four on July Fourth in the US.) Hellboy likewise gt a fairly big ad push, aside from having the cool visual of a giant red guy with a rock arm.

Serenity on the other hand had pretty much none of that.

Uh, moving back to topic though, I'm curious if the next FF film is any better. I could deal with it as popcorn fluff and I'm curious what they're going to do with these huge and grandiose cosmos characters. (How would they pull off this guy anyway? I don't imagine that Doug Jones would actually get speaking lines this time around since that didn't happen in Hellboy either.

orangewaxlion | October 02, 04:58 CET

What got me to see Hellboy was the truncated horns. And Selma Blair.

jaynelovesvera | October 02, 06:43 CET