Whedonesque : Comments on 9360 : Titan Books acquire rights for "Firefly: The Official Companion".

This site will work and look better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.

January 24 2006

Titan Books acquire rights for "Firefly: The Official Companion". The book is scheduled for release this summer and Titan Books "are planning to make this Big Damn Book as shiny as possible".

Press release from the lovely PR person at Titan Books.

TITAN BOOKS TO GIVE FANS LONG-AWAITED FIREFLY COMPANION

Fresh from their success with the SFX Reader Award-winning Serenity: The Official Visual Companion, Titan Books is thrilled to announce the acquisition of World Rights for the first-ever companion to Joss Whedon’s cult television series Firefly.

Titan Books, leading publisher of graphic novels and film and television companions, promises that Firefly: The Official Companion, scheduled for publication this summer, will be just what the show’s fervent fans, the Browncoats, have been waiting for.

Editor Adam Newell says, “We can’t reveal details just yet, but rest assured that we are planning to make this Big Damn Book as shiny as possible…” Anyone who wants to receive updates about the project should send an email with the subject header “Firefly” to readerfeedback@titanemail.com.

20th Century Fox VP, Domestic Licensing, Michael Peikoff notes, “We are confident that the creative team at Titan Books will ‘dead-on’ deliver to both the Firefly and Whedon fan base. This highly anticipated title, though slated for Summer 2006, is already receiving terrific buzz in the marketplace. We could not be more pleased to be working with Titan Publishing on this project.”

Set 500 years in the future, Firefly centres around Mal Reynolds, captain of the ship-for-hire Serenity, and his eclectic crew of galactic misfits. The sci-fi television series has been a DVD phenomenon, selling almost half a million copies. The spin-off movie Serenity, which continues the Firefly story, was a commercial and critical success in the US and UK.

Titan was a natural choice as publisher of the Firefly companion. The company has long been a supporter of Joss Whedon’s work, having sold more than 200,000 Whedon-related titles, and Titan’s recently released Serenity companion has proved a huge success with fans, winning the SFX Magazine Reader Award for Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year.

Simon | Firefly&Serenity | 16:32 CET | 41 comments total | tags: titan books, firefly, serenity

Oh, I am of so many minds about this. Titan did a tremendous job with Serenity but clearly added and abetted by Universal.
Now we have Fox - FOX! jumping on the bandwagon and trying to make more money on the show it cancelled.
We will need buy-in from Joss and the cast and probably Zoic to make this work as we would like.

Lioness | January 24, 16:45 CET

I can't wait for this and I would imagine Titan Books will speak to as many cast and crew as possible.

Simon | January 24, 16:47 CET

Put me down for a copy.

Zoic_Fan | January 24, 17:00 CET

I look forward to this. The Serenity companion was so very well done, this has got to be good.

palehorse | January 24, 17:06 CET

This highly anticipated title, though slated for Summer 2006, is already receiving terrific buzz in the marketplace.

That's funny, I thought it was only just announced :)

gossi | January 24, 17:15 CET

What are they going to put in there that hasn't been nitpicked, debated, and fretted over for the past couple of years? With a rehash of all the old memes now that there are people new to the series. Seems to me they are just taking advantage of our pathetic need (myself included) to get a hold of anything Firefly-related. I would rather they started allowing some of the great fanfic authors, out there, publish their work and keep the 'Verse fresh. We are starting to act like those people who flock to hard water stains that resemble the virgin Mary.

DejaThoris | January 24, 17:19 CET

What are they going to put in there that hasn't been nitpicked, debated, and fretted over for the past couple of years?

The original uncut scripts would be good.

Simon | January 24, 17:23 CET

I'm hoping the episode where Numfar does sexy is included.

Or I'm possibly thinking of the wrong show. Whatever, include it please.

gossi | January 24, 17:33 CET

The e-mail listed is incorrect and bounces. Should be "readerfeedback@titanemail.com," without the dot between "reader" and "feedback."

C. A. Bridges | January 24, 17:38 CET

It's online now, at Newsarama

Niels | January 24, 17:41 CET

It's online now here. I figured the link above would change to the Titan site when it was available.

C. A. Bridges | January 24, 17:44 CET

Thanks for the heads up on that one Chris. I've emailed Titan about it and corrected it on the press release.

Anyhow what I'd like to see in the book.

1) The scripts with bon mots from Joss and Tim.
2) New interviews with the cast and crew.
3) Pretty behind the scenes photos.
4) Some sort of mention/recognition of the fandom. FFF.net, official Firefly board, Firefly: Immediate Assistance etc.
5) And finally how the show would have continued had it not been axed.

Simon | January 24, 18:09 CET

1) The scripts with bon mots from Joss and Tim.

If they had a book with all of the scripts in it, it would cost a pretty penny, and I would gladly ponny up every last cent so that I could read them. Good idea.

war_machine | January 24, 18:23 CET

In an ideal world i'd like everything Simon mentions and perhaps a transcript of a couple of new episodes being broken by say Joss, Jane, Tim and maybe Ben Edlund.

Oh, and the moon on a stick. And an end to war and world hunger.

(but not if it was an either/or thing, then i'd just have the transcript ;).

Saje | January 24, 18:26 CET

Saje, might the 'moon on a stick' be problematic? ;)

And Simon, number five on your list is what I hunger for when it comes to FF/Serenity. Oh, the could'a beens!

Willowy | January 24, 18:34 CET

I'm gonna cry, when it reach the shelves. Cry with tears of hapinness.

Numfar PTB | January 24, 18:36 CET

Now we have Fox - FOX! jumping on the bandwagon and trying to make more money on the show it cancelled.

My thoughts exactly.
Is this Fox's idea because the Serenity Visual Companion did so well and was so very pretty?
I wonder if they'll track down and interview the person(s) who decided not to air the pilot FIRST, the person(s) who made the decision to premier the show during Major League Baseball playoffs, and the person(s) who made the final decision to cancel the show?
Now that would make some interesting reading.

AmazonGirl | January 24, 18:38 CET

Simon

The scripts are available online, or are those different than what you speak of?

Forgive my tetchy-ness, I'm starting to feel like an abused girlfriend when it comes to Firefly.

:goes back to beg forgiveness at the Shrine to Firefly/Serenity:

DejaThoris | January 24, 18:40 CET

Is this Fox's idea because the Serenity Visual Companion did so well and was so very pretty?
I wonder if they'll track down and interview the person(s) who decided not to air the pilot FIRST, the person(s) who made the decision to premier the show during Major League Baseball playoffs, and the person(s) who made the final decision to cancel the show?

Remember that we're talking about 20th Century Fox here not the Fox network who cancelled the show.

From my understanding 20th Century Fox helped Joss when he tried to convince other networks to pick up Firefly when it got cancelled, they also fast tracked the DVD release and had no objections to him turning it into a movie.

DejaThoris I've seen the tv scripts online at certain places (which shall not be mentioned here) but I'm not sure they are the original uncut scripts. I'd just like to sit down, put my feet up and have a cup of coffee and a cigarette and read the scripts in a book which includes relevant commentary by the writers.

Simon | January 24, 18:46 CET

Well I'll definitely be buying this, my Firefly love is still undiminished and so is my hunger for more.

Paul_Rocks | January 24, 19:21 CET

Im sure this is nice, but my wallet can only take so much hammering! I never got involved in fandoms before Firefly(I liked Star Trek,Star Wars, B5, etc etc...), but I never purchased products etc just because it had the movie or tv title on it. For Firefly/Serenity I bought a lot of things, bought 2 tv dvd boxsets, and 2 movie dvd's, and a slew of other stuff. I have yet to buy the firefly soundtrack(I know I know, its good I just havent gone to get it), and the Serenity RPG. Now this comes along...I think I may kill my bank account. Oy. Honestly I am a bit reluctant to buy this. I may change my mind later in the future(when I get a real job and not be a grad student), but I would rather save my money for what I am hoping is a special super duper edition of Serenity with lots of extra features.

kurya | January 24, 19:21 CET

I've sent an email to the stated address and quoted this web page -- may it get a pair or more of Titan(-ish?) eyeballs locked on the "wants" list. The Serenity visual companion was beautifully produced, but I was really left thirsting for more jots and tittles from the cast and crew. Kinda like how I yearned for cast and crew commentaries at the end of the DVD, but I digress.

starbreez | January 24, 19:43 CET

The cat is out of the bag much sooner than I had thought. You can pretty much take your clue for what "Firefly: The Official Companion" will be like from what "Serenity: The Official Visual Companion" was like.

[ edited by Relight on 2006-01-24 18:53 ]

Relight | January 24, 20:47 CET

The PR person says reader.feedback@ is now a valid email address along with readerfeedback@ so I've changed the link to Newsarama accordingly.

Simon | January 24, 20:48 CET

S H I N Y

I want every pic of Nathan available

rivergirl | January 24, 20:55 CET

Oh, and don't you just love how these books are called companions? :D

Relight | January 24, 20:58 CET

This is very cool and if it reaches the same high level of quality that the Serenity Visual Companion achieved then I will be very contented and impressed.

Now we just need an Angel Casefiles for season five and that's all three shows and Serenity covered, which isn't bad at all. Although I wasn't a big fan of the third Watcher's Diary at all, so if they happened to make a completely new version I would be pleased.

Razor | January 24, 21:31 CET

Good eye, Relight. ;-)

And, wow, I cannot wait for this. I have all three of the Buffy Watchers' Guides, but I never bought any of the Angel companions. Methinks I need to do so...soon...

UnpluggedCrazy | January 24, 21:44 CET

Very, *very* shiny.

Me, I'm hopin' the companion piece adds richer and more developed background information regarding our fab heroes. I'd love to hear more 'bout Wash. And Zoe. And Book. And, well, Mal, Jayne, Inara, Kaylee, Simon...er, you get the picture. ;)

nina | January 24, 21:46 CET

Quote: Simon: I can't wait for this and I would imagine Titan Books will speak to as many cast and crew as possible.

They were at the Flanvention, doing interviews with fans and actors. :-)

looking | January 24, 21:52 CET

Razor - I'm still waiting for a Season 5 Angel Casefiles too. I agree that the guides went downhill. Though perhaps not quite as in-depth as other guides, Titan's Smallville and Stargate Atlantis guides I consider the best guidebooks around, a happy medium between guides that have too much useless info and guides that don't have enough photos or enough basic information. Check them out. That's why I'm so happy Titan did the Serenity Companion and will now be doing the Firefly Companion. We can trust them, in whatever they do, to do it right.

I agree with Simon's list of what should be in the book. Besides behind-the-scenes photos, I sure would like to see:

1) Plenty of production art and design visuals, from sets to costumes to props and more.

2) A section just on special effects, with lots of pretty pictures.

3) A hefty gallery section with full-page photos of each of the cast individually and group shots, as many of the original promotional shots as possible. This section would be perfect for signings.

Relight | January 24, 21:56 CET

Shiny, shiny, shiny! Sounds like fun, whatever they put inside. The Serenity companion *rocked*! This gives us Firefly/Serenity stuff to look forward to this summer! :-)

billz | January 24, 22:32 CET

Remember that we're talking about 20th Century Fox here not the Fox network who cancelled the show.

If I'm not mistaken, isn't 20th Century Fox also a News Corporation entity? ("News" & "Corporation"...ew. The pairing of those two words gives me all kind of willies.)

[ edited by AmazonGirl on 2006-01-24 20:47 ]

[ edited by AmazonGirl on 2006-01-24 21:33 ]

AmazonGirl | January 24, 22:43 CET

The cat is out of the bag much sooner than I had thought. You can pretty much take your clue for what "Firefly: The Official Companion" will be like from what "Serenity: The Official Visual Companion" was like.

But Brandon, isn't "Official Companion" (emphasis on "Official" rather than "Visual") what Titan uses to denote their black and white paged books?

Don't get me wrong, I've loved some of Titan's black and white Official Companions (most recently David Bassom's Battlestar Galactica Official Companion). But what I love even more than those are the full color books like the Serenity Visual Companion that dive into the art and props and set photographs.

will.bueche | January 24, 23:31 CET

"Firefly: The Official Companion"?

Am I the only one who sees the pun here? :-)

RayHill | January 25, 01:57 CET

Oh, snap, RayHill! Totally missed that. LMAO! :-)

billz | January 25, 02:10 CET

RayHill, I commented on that above already - I beat ya to it, bro :)

Willbueche, you're correct. Titan uses the "Official Companion" designation for their episode guide books. These books are in black and white with 16-page color inserts in the middle. They're very nice (I'm into the Smallville and SGA ones), but not up to the full glossy goodness of the Serenity Visual Companion. With Firefly off the air for years now though, this publication must be somewhat more special than Titan's regular fare. I think we can expect something a bit shinier than the standard black and white Companions. Note how early it's been announced, and how few details have been revealed at this time.

Relight | January 25, 03:08 CET

If I'm not mistaken, isn't 20th Century Fox also a News Corporation entity? ("News" & "Corporation"...ew.

Both the Fox network and 20th Century Fox are ultimately owned by the same people but are two seperate entities. Bit like two rival countries under an empire.

Simon | January 25, 03:18 CET

Yay! Can't wait!

flightofserenity | January 25, 03:41 CET

Oh this is great news. I adore the Serenity Visual Companion, so I'm thrilled they'll be making a Firefly one now.

SDWolfpup | January 25, 09:02 CET

Also, when you consider that all of the Buffy and Angel guides so far have been covering at least two full seasons, this will be one book covering one shorter season of Firefly. So hopefully it will be very indepth if it ends up a similar sort of size as other guides on the market.

Relight, I was completely happy with the first two Watcher's Guides and The Angel Casefiles, it was just the third Watcher's Guide that I felt was lacking.

Never mind cramming three seasons into one book, but it was also poorly written with less insider trivia and actual insight into the show, and padded out with essays that, whilst most were good, don't belong in that sort of book. I just got the impression that it was rushed and I felt it could have been much better. Also bear in mind the first two had at least two or three writers working on two seasons between them, whereas this was three seasons from one writer!

Razor | January 26, 01:02 CET

You need to log in to be able to post comments.
About membership.

« Older David Boreanaz talks 'Bones' and f... | Marc Blucas to topline independent... Newer »