By the way, Joss, it was a pleasure to meet you. And dance. And, you know, talk. Drunkenly. Hope you find your password soon. (Kev).

gossi | October 06, 14:01 CET

You met Joss? oooooh do tell!

willowzbitch | October 06, 14:04 CET

SERENITY - WE'LL HAVE A FRUITY OATY GOOD TIME

heh.

And you met Joss? Tell us more :)

GVH | October 06, 14:08 CET

willowzbitch - probably best not going totally off topic here. I will post about it on Whedonesque.org. Very briefly - went to the aftershow party. Danced with Mr Jay Wee and Nathan. Spoke words. Saw ASH and Chewie. Got drunk. Went home. In terms of fun factor, this week has been rated off the scale wicked cool.

gossi | October 06, 14:08 CET

I certainly hope this rumor is true, I already know I'll be buying several copies. One for myself and the rest to family I converted to Firefly fans (they already liked BtVS and AtS, so it was an easy sale). And just in time for Christmas!

Madhatter | October 06, 14:17 CET

That sounds like a good time to put it out - 5 days before Christmas. If this is true, guess what everyone in my family is going to get?

Nebula1400 | October 06, 14:43 CET

Is this for region 1 or 2?

Simon | October 06, 14:47 CET

They talk about the BBFC rating so I'd assume it's R2. That's MY Christmas viewing sorted then!

zz9 | October 06, 14:57 CET

Well that does not bode well for Universals belief in the box office take of Serenity if they plan on releasing an R2 verison by Christmas. That only gives it 2 monthes out in theatres but accordding to reports the release in some countries will not be until Jan or Feb 2006. If it doesn't recoup it's cost I have serious doubt for any more features being released and then the best we can hope for is perhaps a chance at straight to DVD release but I'm not sure if Universal owns the rights to make DVD movies or if they would have to purchase those from Fox.

RavenU | October 06, 15:04 CET

You know, if Universal put the $45 million into a TV series instead, we could have had a lot more...

Still, this may be the wave of the future for all movies, not just Serenity. Universal is all about making as much money as quickly as possible. With the holiday competition just around the corner, the movie will plummet before then, and possibly make the most money right before Christmas, since people are more likely to buy it in multiples then than after Christmas.

Nebula1400 | October 06, 15:24 CET

Movie/DVD releasing is more and art than science but I can see some people thinking "If I can buy the DVD in a couple of months I won't bother going to the cinema now."

On the other hand an early release should cut down on bootleg copies, ensuring more money gets back to Universal who might then greenlight a sequel.

zz9 | October 06, 15:36 CET

Whee - and on my birthday too.

loa | October 06, 16:40 CET

Meh, I don't see this happening. Similar rumours happened around the time of Matrix Revolutions, as its box office was a little softer than expected.

I think February is what's been touted as the date for the first dvd, at least from what I've read from Universal (and possibly Joss).

gooball | October 06, 16:40 CET

I saw a tv spot for Into The Blue last night during tv. Yet still no Serenity tv spots with the '2 thumbs up' in it.

eddy | October 06, 18:37 CET

DVD dates often change, I've had quite a few times where I'd put a DVD on my x-mas wish list because it was supposed to be out in November or early December, only to have it really be in January. (and official sites had it set for the early dates as well, so it was not misinformation)

nna_funk | October 06, 18:48 CET

I've seen the review ads with the Ebert and R. review quote. Last night as a matter of fact--during Veronica Mars.

pat32082 | October 06, 18:54 CET

I trust there will be an extended director's cut. No one will be surprised if Uni puts out a theatrical disc, then a few months later the extended. I won't be able to resist buying the theatrical one first as I did for the LotR movies. I never watch those "tight" theatrical versions once I have the full cut, but sic transit glowbugia mundi.

Maybe the extended DVD will have cast commentaries, too.

RBB | October 06, 19:16 CET

I saw a tv spot for Into The Blue last night during tv.

Me too! I almost flipped my lid and then ranted about the lack of Serenity ads. Nothing during Lost, which probably won its timeslot last night. Are they airing it during baseball? That would be a good crowd to get. So far I've only heard of a spot during VM.

Damn, it almost feels like they've given up on it...

Rogue Slayer | October 06, 19:24 CET

I think we all could buy an early 'bare bones' DVD the day it comes out (the bigger the splash the better) and when we then buy the Special Edition Gold Plated With Knobs On Box Set and use the first one to lend to friends for recruiting purposes.

zz9 | October 06, 19:27 CET

Yeah, zz9, that's what I usually do as well. When it comes to my favorite shows, I'm much too impatient to wait for the 'bells and whistle' versions to come out. I just purchase the latest and give away the earlier version to a friend. Works well for all parties concerned.

Madhatter | October 06, 19:48 CET

Yesterday I saw the new "two thumbs up" preview at least three times.

lalaa | October 06, 20:02 CET

Probably because VM is a much cheaper show to advertise on.

dottikin | October 06, 20:51 CET

I don't know how many people really pay attention to the dates of DVD releases, so I don't think it should affect whether or not people go see it in theaters. That's assuming that Serenity is still *in* the theater, of course, but here's hoping ... And even if Serenity does poorly in theaters but makes an absolute killing on DVD, there could still be a sequel, right? Isn't that what happened to Austin Powers?

RBB - Joss has gone on record many times saying that the theatrical version is his preferred cut of the movie. Of course, Peter Jackson said the same thing, so that doesn't preclude the possibility of extended cut DVDs, I just wouldn't call them "director's cuts".

[ edited by bobothebrave on 2005-10-06 18:52 ]

bobothebrave | October 06, 20:52 CET

That's the hope, bobothebrave. In one of the reviews (I can't recall which), it was stated that the DVD market was now the true money maker for film makers and the box office was becoming a teaser for such films as ours. Though I'm not sure if this is true in our day and age, I believe films are leaning in that direction. Furthermore, I think Universal had an inkling that 'Serenity' would have huge sales when released on DVD. Just my opinion.

Madhatter | October 06, 21:35 CET

Well, put it this way: they got an independant director to film their own Serenity Browncoat documentary for Universal, for the Serenity DVD. They will almost certainly be looking for huge DVD sales.

gossi | October 06, 21:53 CET

And they will almost certainly be looking for multiple rounds of DVD sales, as they get repeats as well as slightly different market segments.

bobo--I agree that "director's cut" is an unfortunate, and hopefully even passe term. It spewed out of my typing fingers but doesn't really fit. OTOH, I don't believe it's Joss's preferred cut any more than I believe Peter Jackson--it's a closely parallel situation that I had in mind above.

The theatrical version is Joss's favorite version for the theater. I strongly suspect he will also have a favorite for the fans. There has to be a certain amount of cognitive dissonance when you've crafted a story and script, shot and reshot the script (albeit with changes), and then cut the movie to satisfy a bunch of criteria, including some externally imposed. I doubt most directors would say the extant movie was not their preferred version, unless they were really pummeled by the studio or had the final edit taken away. Also this is Joss's first opportunity to do a longer version of anything he's shot.

RBB | October 06, 22:25 CET

Sorry to disappoint RBB but Joss has stated in many interviews that this is his favorite version full stop and he doesn't believe in doing a directors cut. The version that's at the cinema will be the version on the dvd, though there will be deleted scenes for us to bask in. Having rewatched Serenity today for the 1st time since reading the Visual Companion I really noticed a lot more that was missing than I did when reading it.

ETA: Thought I'd better back up my statement so here's Joss on the very subject.



The full interview was linked to on Whedonesque and can be found here.

[ edited by Paul_Rocks on 2005-10-06 21:19 ]

Paul_Rocks | October 06, 23:14 CET

Interesting... I wonder what he thinks of the extended versions of LotR? This does seem to be the last word on an extended version of Serenity. I don't think he thinks of the LotR movies as "not that tight, " though. I recall some high praise and allusions to that three-in-one series in past quotes. Anyway, I'm likely the last person on this thread, so I'll turn out the lights. If you read this, P_R, thanks for the quote and link!

RBB | October 06, 23:44 CET