Whedonesque : Comments on 15775 : Goners movie goes M.I.A..

Hm. Well, that's disappointing....

I'm torn between being thrilled about Joss being back on tv and this news. Like Gossi says in the post, hopefully we'll see this in some form!

piggiesfly yay | March 15, 03:24 CET

Sock puppets. I'm just sayin'.

I mean, it's still a Universal property. Hopefully they'll do something with it and prove me wrong. I like being wrong; it suits my facial complexion.

I'm beyond thrilled about Dollhouse. And not just because I've stopped accidentally calling it Dollyhouse finally.

gossi | March 15, 03:28 CET

*waits for Goners: The Comic*

*waves hands about licensing concerns for however that works*

Sunfire | March 15, 03:29 CET

I should add, seeing as how this was always in-the-pipes, I can't mourn too hard. But I do feel bad for the fans who've been following this and for Joss, if this means the already seemingly not-going-well process gets more complicated or fizzles out entirely. This sucks all around.

Sunfire | March 15, 03:43 CET

But I thought it was dead months ago?

Simon | March 15, 03:44 CET

No offense to Goners fans, but the possibility that hopes for a Serenity sequel go out the door with Mary Parent is what pains me. =(

jam2 | March 15, 03:48 CET

Our very lack of knowledge about Goners has always seemed to me one of the most exciting and enticing things about it. One of the few things that we do know is that Joss Whedon cared deeply for it, so I hope he does get the opportunity to present us with it in some form in the future.

silvius | March 15, 03:49 CET

I don't think so, Simon. I followed the news pretty closely and never got any "it's dead" vibes until... nowish?

patxshand | March 15, 03:49 CET

It depends on your definition of "dead". The last we had heard was that a recent rewrite was "not incredibly well-received". That was back in October.

The One True b!X | March 15, 03:53 CET

I followed the news pretty closely and never got any "it's dead" vibes until... nowish?

As a Joss watcher, I think Goners the movie is deader that a Serenity sequel. However, Goners the mini-series on HBO would be awfully nifty.

Simon | March 15, 03:55 CET

Well, it went through... rewrites. However many I'm not sure, as I don't know Joss, and he doesn't know me. Well, except that one time, where he came up to me and said 'Yo, Beaumont!' in front of the world's press. I might be confusing that incident with some other people.

Goners, BBC, mini-series. Or a series, as they call it. Totally. I might even buy a TV license.

[ edited by gossi on 2008-03-15 00:59 ]

gossi | March 15, 03:58 CET

Meanwhile, there's Goners sock puppet theatre as gossi mentions and dev first suggested. We've had kabuki and mime and suggested scenes and songs in the past over at Goners, but now it's time to get the puppet theatre rolled out of storage and really get going...

And yeah, I agree, sil - the charm of knowing so little about Goners, and that what we did know was compelling... and that it was a completely original work - as opposed to WW *spits over shoulder and crosses self*- was and is a major draw for me.

Not to mention that Gonerses is a special breed of whacked and gentle folk with useless superpowers and an endless fount of chatter...

QuoterGal | March 15, 04:11 CET

I absolutely agree about the original work aspect, QG - another thing is that it was/is a movie, I'd dearly like to see another Joss movie.

[ edited by silvius on 2008-03-15 01:26 ]

silvius | March 15, 04:17 CET

[ edited by Bruce on 2009-05-14 19:47 ]

Bruce | March 15, 04:43 CET

I don't remember anyone ever saying Ripper would be out by summertime.

The One True b!X | March 15, 04:44 CET

Uhm, summertime? That was never announced. I read on the interweb somewhere he went and met with the BBC about it a few months ago.

gossi | March 15, 04:48 CET

Though that came from popbitch which is slightly more reliable than the bloke down the pub.

Simon | March 15, 04:50 CET

One definite downside to loving this fandom is that I've become entirely skeptical and cynical about new projects. Or old 'new' projects.

Even with Dollhouse, which is at CASTING stage- I choose to sit back and believe it when I see it.

For your own self preservation, take the rest with a grain of salt!

missb | March 15, 04:53 CET

Fandom: making people loose faith in humanity since 1996. Fetch the razor blades marked gossi.

I've been watching far too much Tim Minear stuff recently.

gossi | March 15, 05:00 CET

This is really sad. Really, really, REALLY sad. Mary Parent was such a driving force with Serenity and I imagine would have been for Goners. I still have hope in Goners and a sequel, but it's going to be a meek hopeful at that. Thanks gossi for the info. Does this mean the Goners forum is going away? I don't frequent there much, but when I do I enjoy it.

Well at least we have Dollhouse to look forward too!

Harmalicious | March 15, 05:06 CET

I miss the days where the first thing I ever knew about a movie or a TV series or whatever was the first trailer I saw in the cinema or the first ads on television. This whole thing of dissecting and fan championing of a project from its first interest at a studio is disheartening. Because most projects don't ever get made. Joss isn't immune to what every other writer in Hollywood goes through - pitching ten projects and maybe making one.

Sure, it sucks for the writers, but that's an accepted part of the job. I guess this just means we're along for their ride... but creating fandoms out of script sales seems a little pointless. Sure, I was excited for "Goners" - because, hey, new original Jossian Feature Film. But it was dead long before today. And there's really no point tearing our hair out about it or mourning it. It's the business. It's the industry. Just be glad Joss has something else coming along. A lot of other writers don't necessarily have that luxury.

crossoverman | March 15, 05:13 CET

O.O Aaaah! Harm!! Don't give gossi any ideas!!!

What are the odds that Mary would use her newfound powers for good and pick up the Whedon stuff from Uni? Is Joss under one of those general development contracts or was it specific to each project?

cabri | March 15, 05:15 CET

I'm beginning to doubt my wisdom in posting this... I mean, I still think Mary Parent's job change and gossi's Goners post are WHEDONesque-worthy, but we obviously have no official word on it at all, and I sure didn't want to be the bum in everyone's bum-salad or whatever I mean...

And Harm, as far as I know - and I do care also - and about which gossi can speak with more authority than I, one way or another, there'll always be a Goners... I hope that's convoluted enough for all y'alls.

QuoterGal | March 15, 05:16 CET

crossoverman - I don't disagree. The fact I even felt the need to make a blog post on this one is a little weird in itself, and it's something I'm hyper aware of. Goners appeared off the back of Serenity, which I think we all had a fanastic fan experience with. Goners is new and 'xciting, but I never felt comfortable owning that site.

gossi | March 15, 05:53 CET

huh. bum-salad....that's funny.

OK, good to know! I'm glad it's sticking around because you guys are way fun!! Even if I'm still only on my "shy" mode.

Harmalicious | March 15, 06:04 CET

Goners appeared off the back of Serenity, which I think we all had a fantastic fan experience with.

And I do understand why people got excited - at the time.

And I do have a perverse fascination with the idea that there's a fandom out there for a film that will probably never be made.

I'm just not sure I see the need to post about it here, especially as the news is not new - the Mary Parent thing only sort of reconfirms what we already knew.

And, you know, there's other unmade Joss projects that never had fandoms for them... I still mourn "Dracula: The Musical" and "Suspension". :-)

crossoverman | March 15, 06:47 CET

Hmmmm, MGM.

Anonymous1 | March 15, 07:40 CET

Well, crap.

Craig Oxbrow | March 15, 08:37 CET

It turns out I'm an idiot. I only just now got the joke in the title.

The One True b!X | March 15, 08:38 CET

Well I guess I'll be the first to step forward and say congratulations to Mary Parent. Sucks for those of us hoping for further projects she might have helped get moved along, but it appears to be a good thing for her.

Cabot | March 15, 08:58 CET

O.o Goodness gracious, I can't believe I didn--- er. Um. Heh.

<.<

Oh, you silly b!X, it's so obvious!

cabri | March 15, 09:02 CET

I really don't see why she can't help projects get moved along at MGM.

The thing about Joss is that people enjoy/love working with him. Same with Nathan and the other actors. Someone works with them, they want to work with them again.

And the more popular all of them become, the more likely some studio will take the risk again.

Anonymous1 | March 15, 12:15 CET

MGM isn't like Universal or Fox. Also, goodness isn't a highly marketable commodity in the entertainment industry.

[ edited by dreamlogic on 2008-03-15 10:22 ]

dreamlogic | March 15, 12:41 CET

MGM made Stargate: Ark of Truth straight to DVD movie. Morena (Inara from Firefly/Serenity) plays the big bad villian. Read the budget cost was $7 million. Been a top seller on Amazon for weeks now. And the next movie Stargate: Continuium comes out in the summer.

Firefly DVD had over $6,492,518 in US DVD sales in 2007. That is only the numbers from when the DVD made it into the top 30 chart and only US sales.

Maybe Mary Parent and MGM would like to make a ballerina short with Summer and Joss.

Anonymous1 | March 15, 12:59 CET

Yep, in fact MGM have been incredibly supportive of 'Stargate: SG1', a series which has been cancelled. Twice. And yet is still producing content. They seem to understand the power (and financial opportunity) in fan rabidity, maybe MGM and Mary Parent are a good match.

Where are you getting those figures from though Anonymous1 (aren't DVD sales pretty closely guarded) ?

Not really been following the 'Goners' news (in fact, just about the only bit I do remember is all the speculation over the name Mia ;) but it's sad to hear this, even if personally, given the choice, i'd rather have Joss TV than films (you just get more bang for your "patience buck" ;) - even if 'Dollhouse' dies a death we're still getting nearly 5 hours whereas a film takes years and delivers 2-ish). And wasn't the news about 'Ripper' something along the lines of it might start production in the summer ?

Though that came from popbitch which is slightly more reliable than the bloke down the pub.

I know that guy, his news is for shit but he does a great line in unrealistically cheap Rolexes.

Saje | March 15, 13:22 CET

Kinda what Saje said. I'd love another movie from Joss but with Dollhouse, we have a five hour bare minimum Jossness guarantee, and the possibility of a lot more.

[ edited by Shey on 2008-03-15 13:00 ]

Shey | March 15, 14:45 CET

I'm with those that are disappointed that Goners won't be happening, at least not in the near future, but were actually looking forward to Dollhouse a lot more anyway.

Movie or weekly television series? Not even a question.

Despite the use of the question mark...

The Watcher | March 15, 16:18 CET

I hope Goners gets made I always love more Joss. :D

spike_lover | March 15, 17:20 CET

Poor Joss can't seem to get a break. :(

Adamwankenobi | March 15, 17:28 CET

I'm not sure that having a 7 year series based on a movie that didn't do so well, a five year series spun off from that, and a movie based on a series that lasted less than a year is evidence of someone unable to get a break. Seems to me the man does the impossible before breakfast ;)

Plus Universal may still develop it or not depending on what terms Mary Parent left on and how much they had to be convinced that the concept was good.

zeitgeist | March 15, 18:23 CET

And of course some of us have no idea what a "goners" movie is.

Pumps | March 15, 18:38 CET

Though I never got too into the Goners fandom itself, I was hoping against hope that it would actually get off the ground despite discouraging development after discouraging development (look at that, I got to use alliterative phrasing twice in one sentence).

*sigh* I of course am dying for Dollhouse, but I really wanted to see Joss make another film.

[ edited by UnpluggedCrazy on 2008-03-15 16:15 ]

UnpluggedCrazy | March 15, 19:15 CET

Saje | March 15, 10:22 CET
quote

Where are you getting those figures from though Anonymous1 (aren't DVD sales pretty closely guarded) ?

:)

DVD sales $amount
45,794 $1,288,185 2007/09/09
31,983 $685,076 2007/06/17
33,845 $773,358 2007/03/04
120,215 $3,745,899 2007/01/07
------- ----------
231,837 $6,492,518

Google search of The Numbers DVD sales charts for Firefly

Every week or so they add another week dated backwards. They are back to October 2006. Recently SLiTHER DVD sales numbers showed up 221875 for $4,541,528. Hopefully for more Firefly and Serenity numbers some day.

Anonymous1 | March 15, 20:45 CET

Fandom: making people loose faith in humanity since 1996.

Typos: still making internet commentary unintentionally funny.

Well I guess I'll be the first to step forward and say congratulations to Mary Parent. Sucks for those of us hoping for further projects she might have helped get moved along, but it appears to be a good thing for her.

This is entirely true, and I regret not having said it before. I hope the new job goes well for her.

Sunfire | March 15, 21:29 CET

Typos: still making internet commentary unintentionally funny.

Shitty hell. Woops. I can't pretend I meant to make that mistake, can I?

Also, yes - congrats to Mary.

gossi | March 15, 21:32 CET

Ironically, it made your comment seem optimistic, gossi. The fandom, it lets loose the hope amongst us, or something like that. ;)

Sunfire | March 15, 21:41 CET

Fandom gives me hope. And then usually smashes it up with a sledgehammer until I'm ready to cry. And then something new comes along. Lather, rinse, repeat.

gossi | March 15, 21:46 CET

And of course some of us have no idea what a "goners" movie is.

Then you should read So, What Is Goners?. (Disclaimer: Self-linking.)

The One True b!X | March 15, 21:47 CET

And yeah, Mary Parent, chairman job at MGM! Whoo-hoo! Congratulations! Good for her! Shiny!

And I say Good for us too! It isn't just money in Hollywood. It is about who you know and it is about power.

So Mary Parent, way to go girl! Or is that way to go woman!

Anonymous1 | March 15, 21:52 CET

Firefly is owned by Fox and Serenity and Goners are owned by Universal. It would take a complete miracle for MGM to get anywhere near these properties. It simply won't happen. That doesn't mean nothing will ever happen with them, it just won't be with Mary Parent's involvement. Of course, anything happening at Universal is beyond unlikely after Serenity's BO. Argue all you want about DVD, but the studio doesn't look at it that way.

TamaraC | March 15, 23:50 CET

TamaraC,

The Universal DVD department looks at it that way.

Do you know if Universal still owns Serenity's movie sequel rights if they let the contracts expire? If they do, when does that expire.

And if the world doesn't end in 2012, we will see what happens when Fox's rights to Firefly TV series expire.

Anonymous1 | March 16, 01:43 CET

And on Fox, like Joss is going to be working in the same buildings...I would think the Fox DVD people would love to talk to Joss.

Anonymous1 | March 16, 01:45 CET

You've had conversations with folk in the Universal Home Entertainment division? Really?

I know nothing about contracts or expirations and could only guess at it (which I won't).

Joss is going to be very very busy. He has a TV show to write, cast, produce, edit, promote, etc.

[ edited by TamaraC on 2008-03-15 23:05 ]

TamaraC | March 16, 02:04 CET

Over the years Joss teased us with probably spurious hints about Goners. There will be no Chinese but there will be Japanese! and Dobermans! And Mia and Violet. From such things are a fandom made.
It didn't sound hopeful months ago, it is true. But this does seem to say it is probably over.
However, congratulations to Mary Parent. She deserves it.

Lioness | March 16, 02:32 CET

I'm not sure it's over. I just think it's a long way away right now. I think it's something to do with enthusiasm -- projects like this need everybody to want to make them and to drive them forward. The funny thing? I had to look up how to spell enthusiasm.

gossi | March 16, 02:54 CET

I'm with gossi -- after the fiasco with The-Movie-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named (or, apparently, ever made) and then the multiple rewrites on Goners and then the bad bad cold and then the strike, I think Joss just needs a break and a new toy. Dollhouse is new and shiny and has the potential to become a classic, and I'm looking forward to it nearly as much as I am to Goners. Hopefully in a few years Goners will be back on the radar; heck, maybe it'll even morph into something else, but whether it's a movie or a series or a comic book, I will be first in line to see it. :)

cabri | March 16, 04:46 CET

TamaraC,

Hmmm, don't remember saying I had conversations with anyone.

Anonymous1 | March 16, 05:16 CET

You stated how the Universal DVD department looks at it. I'm assuming you have inside knowledge if you are going to make a statement like that.

TamaraC | March 16, 05:25 CET

Fandom gives me hope. And then usually smashes it up with a sledgehammer until I'm ready to cry. And then something new comes along. Lather, rinse, repeat.

There was an item on here last night that got deleted, that started my rinse cycle up. Theonetruebix pointed out that the new deal between Universal and Darkhorse might provide new opportunities for a creator with ties to both.

dreamlogic | March 16, 05:56 CET

TamaraC,

TamaraC | March 15, 23:04 CET

the studio doesn't look at it that way.

TamaraC | March 16, 02:25 CET

And here I was assuming you have inside knowledge if you are going to make a statement like that.

Anonymous1 | March 16, 08:07 CET

Yes.

TamaraC | March 16, 08:54 CET

dreamlogic, when I said that it was really more of a, "Let's see where people go with this in their heads" sort of thing. Heh.

The One True b!X | March 16, 09:29 CET

Taking this to email.

dreamlogic | March 16, 09:54 CET