I knew they would not drop all of them, but dropping almost half is kinda harsh.

RavenU | October 21, 00:59 CET

The only thing good about this is that Into the Blue loses 1295.

Danica | October 21, 01:00 CET

There's no way the movie can stay in the US top 15 this weekend now (I'd presume it'll fall out the top 20). If anybody wants to start gurilla marketing the DVD set, I think now is the time to start preparing. I've got a few ideas kicking around, but I'm having a break from it all for a while.

gossi | October 21, 01:02 CET

Let me get this straight.
The greatest game ever played earns less and at the same time drops less theatres than Serenity? It got released together with Serenity and so far made only $12 mil domestic. it drops about 700 theaters Friday.

*shakes head*

Harpy | October 21, 01:07 CET

My only concern now is to make sure I know which weekend will be the final one for the best theater in town, so local Browncoats can make one last group run.

The One True b!X | October 21, 01:07 CET

theonetruebix - keep an eye on the listings. I suspect the numbers will half again next weekend. I'd say most people are best planning a trip next Thursday evening.

For anybody in the UK - my friend has organised a screening in Merseyside, in Runcorn, in December (before the DVD comes out) at a cinema. We've got the reel for it. Give me a shout if you want details, it'll be especially for fans. We may also screen the documentary we filmed then, I'm not sure.

gossi | October 21, 01:10 CET

Edited to include tags.

Simon | October 21, 01:18 CET

Sorry, Simon, I've forgotten to do that the last few times.

gossi | October 21, 01:20 CET

Well, it looks like this weekend is the time to take my Dad. He's been watching the episodes on Sci-Fi channel, though he misseed a bunch in the beginning, and last time I saw him he asked about it. Then he asked about the movie again, and if he and my brother want to see it with him. He seemed kind of eager about it. It was probably the C.S. Lewis article that did it. He's a big C.S. Lewis fan. He joked, "Well hey, if C.S. Lewis likes it!" Heh.

And if my brother ain't read for Serenity again (for shame!) then I'll just go alone with my dad.

electricspacegirl | October 21, 01:46 CET

I thought it would be a -600 and stay in roughly 1000 theaters. History of Violence hardly dropped any. The only thing I can think of is that there will be 2 scifi pictures from Universal so they basically are working against each other.

IMMORTAL | October 21, 02:06 CET

Still going strong in my central London cinema for the next week at least! 6 times a day (that's an increase, btw) for Friday & Saturday, 5 or 4 times on other days. Woo! Anyone got a hoo?

lone fashionable wolf | October 21, 02:10 CET

hoo!

I'm definitely going to try to see this once or twice more while it's still in theatres. I still have to see it with my best friend, so I'm telling her that she must see it in theatres.

Danica | October 21, 02:21 CET

This film was made through an unprecedented level of dedication from its fans and creators; its conception, gestation and birth are NOT comparable to any other film I can think of off the top of my head. I hope people realize that its life and ultimate success probably cannot be compared to the standard patterns other films follow, either. To paraphrase Joss, watch for the slow burn and don't let things like initial box office ruin the overwhelmingly unique and awesome experience Serenity has been (and will in time be for many, many others).

MrArg | October 21, 02:24 CET

I think it's kinda sad that Serenity wasn't the surprise blockbuster we all secretly hoped it would be (and deserves to be), but the film has still performed well considering the time of year, other films it was up against, the genre, relatively unknown cast, and other such factors.

I was a little disappointed when I saw the number of screenings at my local cinemas, which have been reduced since it's been out. The truth is that it is very rare for a film to maintain the large frequency of screenings for very long after its release. Films like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars manage to do so for quite some time, and it's just a shame Serenity was probably never going to be able to do that, despite its quality.

But I think we should all look forward to the future, and the DVD, after all the film has garnered mostly postitive reviews and audience reactions, so there is hope that the fanbase will increase even more for the DVD, after all you have Browncoats as well as the people for whom Serenity was their first experience of the 'verse and enjoyed it, and I also suspect that they make more money for every sale of a DVD than a movie ticket.

[ edited by Razor on 2005-10-21 00:32 ]

Razor | October 21, 02:30 CET

The only thing good about this is that Into the Blue loses 1295.

Yes, can we all be glad that "Serenity" beat Jessica Alba's breasts?

No, seriously, think about this for a moment. Jessica Alba and Paul Walker are name actors. Not good actors, mind you, but surely Sony would have expected them to get the crowds in.

There's not much comfort to take (apart from great reviews and the fact that "Serenity" is excellent), but I'll take humiliating Alba and Walker at the box office any day of the week, thank you.

crossoverman | October 21, 02:30 CET

Well, according to Fandago, I won't be seeing the BDM again until it comes out on DVD. It's been fun, but 6 times is not enough. As the numbers freeze domestically, they continue to increase over-seas. That's the only good thing I'm seeing.

MySerenity | October 21, 02:34 CET

Well, according to Fandago, I won't be seeing the BDM again until it comes out on DVD.

Here in Portland it looks like we're losing some showtimes but not any venues.

The One True b!X | October 21, 03:32 CET

I've never been part of any of the really activist fan thing -- and I'm not sure if anyone who isn't Universal could really organize this anwyay -- but I'm wondering if there should be any sort of organized effort to drive people to a few key theaters in a few key places. If it ran at say, 10 strategic theaters in ten strategic cities to large crowds (as has apparently been happening, according to posters on the Universal board, in Austin, TX and Columbia, SC) all the way up to the release of the DVD, that would create the feeling of a growing phenomenon and be a great lead-in to the DVD.

[ edited by bobster on 2005-10-21 01:39 ]

bobster | October 21, 03:38 CET

There's only one chain of theatres in my province and "Serenity" is moving to the second-smallest cinema in the Saint John area. I'm going to go see it with my mother next week (I'm currently getting her into "Firefly"... we're up to "Jaynestown").

Knuckleball | October 21, 04:02 CET

It's gone from my neck of the woods now so I have the DVD to look forward to (and the VCG and the novelization to tide me over til then).

Here's to hoping even those few theaters can bring in the crowds before the movie is gone for good from the US screens and here's hoping a successful run overseas. That said, I'm grateful that we got the movie and am extremely happy with how it turned out and how well it was received by the credits. One of my biggest fears was people outside the 'verse wouldn't get it or hate it and most of those new comers who did see it loved it. To me, that is more important than the box office numbers. The movie was great and people who saw it loved it and responded to it.

Firefly Flanatic | October 21, 05:09 CET

I was just watching some of the features on the new 10th anniversary Mallrats DVD, with Kevin Smith going on how the movie was a big flop in the theatres but really found an audience on video and DVD. Hopefully the same thing will happen with Serenity but on a greater scale.

Meanwhile looking ahead, I hope Universal gets new artwork for the DVD cover and new poster advertising. Working with designers (but not being one myself) at work I've always thought that the North America poster really sucked. Especially as an advertising product in trying to get people interested in a movie. The various international ones were a bit better, but still not as good as it could have been.

Matt_Fabb | October 21, 05:21 CET

What's really sad is the last couple of days it's been in the top ten at #10.

Firefly Flanatic | October 21, 06:04 CET

I was just watching some of the features on the new 10th anniversary Mallrats DVD, with Kevin Smith going on how the movie was a big flop in the theatres but really found an audience on video and DVD.

Kevin Smith is full of, well, this completely misrepresents the story. A) the production budget of Clerks was $27,000 B) Miramax paid a heap of money for it C) it made $31,000 on its first weekend in two theatres D) it made over 3 million at the box office in 96 theatres *total*

Exactly how does a film making ten times its production budget count as a flop?

The man has made flops. Mallrats did badly. Jersey Girl tanked. Clerks gave him a career. If a $27,000 movie flops, you either don't hear of the director again or that movie is never remembered.

What's really sad is the last couple of days it's been in the top ten at #10.

Unfortunately theatres have to make room for "Doom" this weekend - another Universal release which has 3000+ theatres.

crossoverman | October 21, 08:00 CET

Keith G, Matt Fabb was talking about Mallrats, you even quoted him correctly on that.

rabid | October 21, 08:18 CET

Also, on the original Mallrats DVD, I remember Kevin Smith saying something to the effect of "Universal couldn't market themselves out of paper bag." That quote has been floating around in my head for the past few weeks for some reason.

WindTheFrog | October 21, 09:01 CET

Keith G, Matt Fabb was talking about Mallrats, you even quoted him correctly on that.

I'm just going to crawl back into my hole and, you know, where am I again?

Sorry.

crossoverman | October 21, 12:04 CET

"Serenity" hasn't even come out where I am yet, though I managed to get to the (one) pre-screening. But when international sales are taken into account, there's no telling what the final figures will be.

Rather than a sequel, though, I'd want the episodes between "Objects in Space" and "Serenity." OK, and then another film so we can find out about Inara's past.

No, I'm not even bothering to dream...

Ilana | October 21, 16:56 CET

I am not surprised a bit. In fact, I will try and see this again before it leaves the theater. Something tells me this will be the last time you see Firefly on the big screen. So I want to enjoy it.

Hopefully, with good over seas numbers and then strong DVD sales, they will see at the very least this show has a strong enough following for TV. I hope beyond hope that this either makes it's way back to TV (like the Sci-fi Channel) in the form of a TV movies or a new show.

DarenG | October 21, 21:15 CET

If it can't come back as a series a mini-series would be great. Maybe a nice eight hour miniseries (with no commercials!).

Firefly Flanatic | October 21, 21:21 CET

I've checked the listings for my local cinemas, and there are a few screenings this weekend, but for the rest of the week, only one evening showing. I'm worried as to how next weekend will look, so I'm going to try and see it tomorrow, in case I don't get the chance to see it again.

Razor | October 21, 21:50 CET

Well, I'm going one more time today. Whether we get to see any more of the Firefly/Serenity 'Verse on screen, I'm really glad we had the chance to get what we did. Thanks, Joss.

m'cookies actual | October 21, 21:51 CET

A couple months ago I loaned my DVD's to a friend who has kids in the target group, but he never got a chance to watch them. He brought them back to me and we watched a few episodes. He has also been working constantly for the lastbunch of weeks and has not been able to go to the movie.

Well, a week or so ago his eldest got home from a trip and announced that a friend of his had loaned him a set of Firefly DVD's. Dad and son have now watched three episodes and both are crazy about them. Now the whole group wants to go to the movie and guess what? Yep, it is pretty much gone. So far I have found one theater in Northern Jersey still playing it and it is pretty out of the way. I hope they make the effort

I told my friend I had given him the chance to be Mr. Cool Dad, by introducing his kids to Firefly, but he blew it. ;-)

newcj | October 21, 22:50 CET