"Serenity" - "Firefly" Series info + film discussion (*SPOILERS START ON POST #31*!)

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Looks like the low price in my area is going to be Target, though Best Buy lists it as Hot Price in the ad, so I imagine they will be selling it for that as well. At one point it was mentioned that the minimum needed for a sequel is $80 million worldwide supposedly including dvd proceeds. Currently the worldwide gross of Serenity is just shy of $40 million dollars, so it would seem we need about 4 million Serenity dvds sold worldwide to attain the bare minimum required for a sequel.

Also a review of the dvd was posted at dvd.ign.com http://dvd.ign.com/articles/675/675134p1.html
 
I avoided the spoilers in this thread, but I just wanted to know... I rented the movie, but will it make sense even though I never watched the show? I'm going to watch it anyway, but I was curious.

On a related note, I've had a huge crush on Jewel Staite since Space Cases a decade ago. Damn, that woman is hot.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']I avoided the spoilers in this thread, but I just wanted to know... I rented the movie, but will it make sense even though I never watched the show? I'm going to watch it anyway, but I was curious.

On a related note, I've had a huge crush on Jewel Staite since Space Cases a decade ago. Damn, that woman is hot.[/QUOTE]

I had never seen the show when I went to see the movie in the theater. I understood the movie just fine, but it felt like there was there was something I was missing. Since then I have gone back and purchased/viewed the series. I have yet to watch the movie again though although i will be purchasing it this week) And yes, Jewel Staite is extremely hot.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']I avoided the spoilers in this thread, but I just wanted to know... I rented the movie, but will it make sense even though I never watched the show? I'm going to watch it anyway, but I was curious.

On a related note, I've had a huge crush on Jewel Staite since Space Cases a decade ago. Damn, that woman is hot.[/QUOTE]
If you would rather watch the series first, fire up the VCR or DVR for January 6th as there will be a marathon of Firefly episodes on the Sci-fi channel all day leading up to the mid-season reboot of Sci-fi Friday. Unfortunately, not all of the episodes of the series are being aired that day, though 3 key episodes to not miss should you decide to watch are Out of Gas, Ariel, and War Stories which are all 3 in a row starting at 1:00 PM EST.

It may be a bit disorienting at first, but the first 20 minutes get you up to speed on the Firefly Universe and introduce the characters. If you feel like you can hold out to watch the film until after you watch the series, that is the best way to watch it as you will already have an emotional tie to the characters, but it's not like jumping into the Matrix Revolutions without having seen Reloaded.

If you do watch the film before seeing the show, and then have questions afterward, feel free to post in this thread.

Indeed, a third affirmative for Staite's hotness :). That was the only role I had seen her in (except in Are you Afraid of the Dark? years ago) and then I watched the first season of Dead Like Me where she plays, shall we say, a different type of character in Episode 14 :D
 
Just now getting a chance to throw the DVD in. Is there supposed to be a inside insert in the DVD. When I opened mine there was no insert at all. Opened up the DVD and found only the DVD, a little unusual nowadays I thought.
 
[quote name='kjauburn']Just now getting a chance to throw the DVD in. Is there supposed to be a inside insert in the DVD. When I opened mine there was no insert at all. Opened up the DVD and found only the DVD, a little unusual nowadays I thought.[/QUOTE]
Nope, no insert, though mine had paper ads for a few other upcoming releases in it.
 
[quote name='guardian_owl']Nope, no insert, though mine had paper ads for a few other upcoming releases in it.[/QUOTE]

Wow they went cheap on the release. Probably because they rushed it for a pre christmas release. They probably would have been better off waiting for the new year instead of getting buried in the mad dash to release movies before christmas. Glad its out though since it was the best movie of the year. To bad they didn't do a collectors edition. Sure they will rape us later for that...
 
Actually not having an insert inside is becoming pretty common place anymore, lots of studios are doing it. Especially with it not being very high profile release, I wasn't terribly surprised it didn't have an insert.
 
Final numbers in, http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Videos&f=Top+DVD+Sales
Serenity places #5 in its first week

1 The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Widescreen Unrated Version)
2 Four Brothers (Widescreen)
3 The Brother's Grimm
4 Four Brothers (Full Screen)
5 Serenity (Widescreen)
6 March of the Penguins (Widescreen)
7 Exorcism of Emily Rose (Unrated Edition)
8 Madagascar
9 Fantastic Four (widescreen)
10 Star Wars: Episode III (Widescreen)
 
[quote name='guardian_owl']Final numbers in, http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Videos&f=Top+DVD+Sales
Serenity places #5 in its first week

1 The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Widescreen Unrated Version)
2 Four Brothers (Widescreen)
3 The Brother's Grimm
4 Four Brothers (Full Screen)
5 Serenity (Widescreen)
6 March of the Penguins (Widescreen)
7 Exorcism of Emily Rose (Unrated Edition)
8 Madagascar
9 Fantastic Four (widescreen)
10 Star Wars: Episode III (Widescreen)[/QUOTE]

The Brother's Grimm beat it?!?!?
 
[quote name='guardian_owl']Final numbers in, http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Videos&f=Top+DVD+Sales
Serenity places #5 in its first week

1 The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Widescreen Unrated Version)
2 Four Brothers (Widescreen)
3 The Brother's Grimm
4 Four Brothers (Full Screen)
5 Serenity (Widescreen)
6 March of the Penguins (Widescreen)
7 Exorcism of Emily Rose (Unrated Edition)
8 Madagascar
9 Fantastic Four (widescreen)
10 Star Wars: Episode III (Widescreen)[/QUOTE]

That's kind of sad. I was hoping Serenity would be number one or two during it's first week.
 
Well the Hollywood Reporter released their list which fuses all version of a movies dvd into one total and the result is this:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/charts/home_video/dvds.jsp

Sales totals are not published, instead the index is the relative sales total as compared to the #1 dvd for the week. For instance, If Four Brothers sold 100 copies, Polar Express would have sold 56 copies.

Dec 20th - 24th
R Title ................................ Index
1 Four Brothers.................. 100.0
2 The 40-Year-Old Virgin.... 97.2
3 The Polar Express........... 56.0
4 Serenity.......................... 55.8
5 Madagascar.................... 54.2
6 Brothers Grim................. 51.2
7 March of the Penguins... 49.7
8 Fantastic Four................ 46.4
9 Must Love Dogs............. 45.9
10 Mr. and Mrs. Smith....... 43.9

As one can see, #3-5 are pretty darn close.
 
At least it made the top five for a week. May even make if for last week's releases too but I doubt it. Once the numbers for this week's releases hit though that'll be all she wrote because Wedding Crashers will knock everything down a peg.
 
[quote name='Duo_Maxwell']At least it made the top five for a week. May even make if for last week's releases too but I doubt it. Once the numbers for this week's releases hit though that'll be all she wrote because Wedding Crashers will knock everything down a peg.[/QUOTE]
Preliminary data for week ending December 31st puts Serenity at #6
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/charts/home_video/first_alert.jsp

Universal issued a press release stating American Pie 4 sold 1 million copies so once the relative indexes are posted for the 2nd week, the approximate copies of Serenity sold during the 2nd week should be able to be calculated.

Estimates for the 1st week range from 800,000 to 1.2 million units sold based on indexes and available ranking data. So that's about 8 to 12 million dollars revenue for the first week since studios make about $10 profit per dvd.

I almost look forward to the day when Serenity falls off the dvd charts, then there will be no more numbers for me to obsess over ;)
 
I am glad to see the Firefly box set getting a bump again from the release of the Serenity DVD. Its been in the top 5 at Amazon since the release. To bad Universal doesn't have the TV show rights. They would be sitting back making money on the box set as well. Instead Fox is getting the money for those sales and they won't be doing anything with the series again.
 
[quote name='kjauburn']I am glad to see the Firefly box set getting a bump again from the release of the Serenity DVD. Its been in the top 5 at Amazon since the release. To bad Universal doesn't have the TV show rights. They would be sitting back making money on the box set as well. Instead Fox is getting the money for those sales and they won't be doing anything with the series again.[/QUOTE]
Well if it makes you feel any better, the company which produces the dvd set and receives the revenue is separate from the entity which canceled the series even if they are all under the Fox banner.
 
Yeah it sucks that the series and movie rights are owned by different companies. If a single company owned both then the series would be more likely to continue in some form.
 
so guardian, do you have an approx on the total $ that the movie has brought in. Has it hit the mark set by the studio to have a sequel?
 
[quote name='ryanbph']so guardian, do you have an approx on the total $ that the movie has brought in. Has it hit the mark set by the studio to have a sequel?[/QUOTE]

I'm not guardian, but last I checked Box Office Mojo said the worldwide total was around 38 million, which didn't even make it's budget back let alone hit the studios original mark. If the DVD salescan increase a sequel wouldn't be totally out of the question though, but it probably wouldn't be a mationwide release like before and to be honest I think Whedon has focused all his attention now on his other big projects.
 
I have to agree at this point a sequel is a longshot. However with loyalty of the fans I expect the entire firefly universe to continue in some format. Comics being the best bet for a future after the strong demand for the Serenity tie in comics. If 4 million plus DVD units are sold then there could be a chance for a future direct to video or new movie. Universal is really starting to test the waters with direct to video release of Carlito's way 2 and american pie: band camp.

It goes back to my previous statement Fox is making bank off the TV show rights. If I remember correctly Fox has made quite a bit on the show since it was canceled (Between selling the rights to SciFi for broadcasting and the DVD set) without investing anything more into the series. Anytime the rights are split on anything the future always becomes trickier...
 
Updated the original post with a link to the unaired, original cut of the Firefly pilot episode. Features extended scenes, alternate lines, and an alternative music score. Cobbled together from tapes so the quality isn't very high.
Original Firefly Pilot "Serenity" - Part 1, Part 2
 
Well, using existing data, algebra (yes it does have a purpose students) and several Hollywood Reporter sales charts; I have calculated that Serenity sold between 1,104,840 and 1,605,348 units for the week of December 20-25th, its first week. If you would just like to accept that number, then ignore all that follows. However, if you would to see how I got that number, prepare to spend a good deal of time reading the work...

Abbreviations:
HR = Hollywood Reporter
FF = Fantastic Four
FB = Four Brothers
40YOV = 40 Year Old Virgin
MAX = Maximum
MIN = Minimum

Facts:
-According to HR, FF sold enough copies its first week to be ranked #34 best seller of the year
-The following week, the first week of 40YOV's release, the 40YOV was reported to have sold 3.7 million and was ranked the #35 best seller of the year
-Therefore FF sold at least 3.7 million units its first week, to avoid speculation, we will say FF sold 3.7 million units its first week.
-Using the relative sales index of the HW charts and the 3.7 million units sold press release of the 40YOV, we can figure out the units sold for the top 10 on the HR chart during the week of December 13th to 19th.

December 13th to 19th:
Rank/Title/....Sales Index/(approx. sales totals)/Rank YTD
1 The 40-Year-Old Virgin ...100.0.... 3,700,000 -- 35
2 Fantastic Four ................39.5..... 1,461,500 -- 23
3 The Polar Express ..........29.3...... 1,084,100
4 Madagascar ...................28.0...... 1,036,000
5 Mr. & Mrs. Smith ............24.6..........910,200
6 The Dukes of Hazzard ....24.3......... 899,100
7 March of the Penguins ....23.7......... 876,900
8 Cinderella Man ...............21.5......... 795,500
9 The Island .....................21.5......... 795,500
10 Star Wars: Episode III ..17.3......... 640,100

-We then calculate the total sales for FF up the 2nd week by adding the 3.7 mil estimate from the first week, to the 1,461,500 extrapolated data from the 2nd week. 3.7 mil + 3.7 mil (.395) = 5,161,500.
-This brings us to the week of Serenity's release.

Dec 20th - 25th
Rank/Title/............../Sales Index/Rank YTD
1 Four Brothers................ 100.0 -- 68
2 The 40-Year-Old Virgin.... 97.2 -- 21
3 The Polar Express........... 56.0
4 Serenity......................... 55.8 -- 100+
5 Madagascar.................... 54.2
6 Brothers Grim................. 51.2
7 March of the Penguins...... 49.7
8 Fantastic Four................. 46.4 -- 20
9 Must Love Dogs.............. 45.9
10 Mr. and Mrs. Smith........ 43.9

-Unfortunately, there were no press releases for Four Brothers numbers so we are going to have to do some ugly algebra to get approximate sales for Four Brothers, which would then give us the serenity first week numbers.
-One fact that is in our favor is that sales rank for the year for 40YOV is #21 and and the year rank for FF is #20, very close. Therefore, if we add the total sales for FF as of Dec. 19th to FF sales from Dec. 20th to 25th this total would be slightly larger than the total sales for 40YOV as of Dec. 19th added to the 40YOV sales from Dec. 20th to 25th.
-Follow me here, the relative sales index for FF is 46.4% and 97.2% for the 40YOV and taking the information in the above entry we end up with an equation:
Clean equation
5,161,500 + .464x > 3,700,00 + .972x
Same equation with elements labeled
5,161,500(FF total sales from 1st two weeks) + .464x(FF sales for the third week) > 3,700,00(40YOV total sales from 1st week) + .972x(40YOV sales for the 2nd week)
-Solving for X yields the MAX possible sales for FB in its first week:
5,161,500 + .464x > 3,700,00 + .972x
-3,700,000............-3,700,000
1,461,500 + .464x > .972x
-.464x...................-.464x
1,461,500 > .508x
/.508......../.508
2,876,968.5 > x

-Therefore, based on historical data, FB could not have sold more than 2,876,968.5 units its first week, so the MAX sales for FB is 2,876,968.5
-Now that we have the MAX sales for FB, we can figure out the MAX totals sales for 40YOV as of its 2nd week of release.
-We take the 40YOV half of the above equation and plug in the numbers:
MAX 40YOV total sales = 3,700,000 + .972(2,876,968.5) = 6,496,413.4 MAX units
-To figure out the MIN total sales for 40YOV as of its 2nd week of release, we will look at the YTD rank. The previous week, FF was ranked #23 with total sales of 5,161,500. This week, the 40YOV is ranked #21 so the total sales as of the 2nd week of release must be greater than 5,161,500. So the MIN total sales for 40YOV as of its 2nd week of release is 5,161,500.
To Summarize 6,496,413.4 units > 40YOV sales as of 2nd week > 5,161,500 units

-Now onto Four Brothers :lol:, as you can see, at the top of the previous paragraph we figured out the MAX possible sales for FB in its 1st week of release, 2,876,968.5.
-To figure out the MIN possible sales for FB in its 1st week of release we will use another ugly algebra equation. This equation is designed to once again solve for X which is the actual total for FB sales: 40YOV unit sales as of Dec. 19th added to the 40YOV sales from Dec. 20th to 25th is greater than the MIN total sales for 40YOV as of its 2nd week of release.
Clean Equation
3,700,00 + .972x > 5,161,500
Same equation with elements labeled
3,700,00(40YOV total sales from 1st week) + .972x(40YOV sales for the 2nd week) > 5,161,500(MIN total sales for 40YOV as of its 2nd week)
-Solving for X yields the MIN possible sales for FB in its first week:
3,700,00 + .972x > 5,161,500
-3,700,000...........-3,700,000
.972x > 1,461,500
/.972..../.972
x > 1,503,600.8

-So the MIN possible sales for FB in its first week is 1,503,600.8 units.
To Summarize 2,876,968.5 units > FB sales the 1st week > 1,503,600.8 units

-Ok folks, we're in the home stretch, time to figure out Serenity sales. We do this by plugging the MAX and MIN totals for Four Brothers into a simple equation derived from the Serenity sales Index for this week:
MIN Serenity sales = MIN possible FB sales * Serenity sales index
MIN Serenity Sales = 1,503,600.8 * .558 = 839,008.8
MAX Serenity sales = MAX possible FB sales * Serenity sales index
MAX Serenity sales = 2,876,968.5 * .558 = 1,605,348.1
To Summarize 1,605,348 units > Serenity sales the 1st week > 839,008.8 units

So Serenity sold between 839,009 and 1,605,348 units for the week of December 20-25th.

Update:
[quote name='"stfletch"']In the week that Fantastic Four was top, Dukes of Hazzard was 2nd in its first week, and was 75th for the year, selling 53.5% of Fantastic Four.

0.535*3.7mil = 1.98mil fo DoH.

Now Four Brothers was 68th for the year in its first week and so must have sold at least 1.98mil units (probably a bit more). But being conservative and without resorting to speculation, we have for Serenity

0.558*1.98mil = 1.10mil for Serenity minimum
[/quote]
So with the revised MIN, Serenity sold between 1,104,840 and 1,605,348 units for the week of December 20-25th.

I'll update with 2nd week totals as soon as I notice when they update the Hollywood Reporter dvd chart for the week ending Jan. 1.
 
Well Hollywood Reporter screwed up so they didn't publish full dvd sales charts for two weeks so there will be gaps in determining rough totals.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/charts/home_video/dvds.jsp
Ok, last week Serenity was #16 for the year to date. This week The Man debuted at #28 year to date. Since Lord of War sold 2.5 million copies its first week, and The Man had a sales index of 25.9%, that means The Man sold 647,500 this week (and thus this year). That means from Jan. 1st to Jan 22nd, Serenity has sold more (likely much more) than 647,500 copies. I would say that means we are definitely over the 2 million mark total units solds by this point.

Also of interest, Serenity seems to be giving quite a nice bump to Firefly (though I think the MSRP may have been lowered within the previous month as well.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/charts/home_video/tv_to_dvd.jsp
Firefly is currently climbing the TV on DVD charts, #4 for the week ending Jan. 22nd up from #7 the previous week, and has the #5 highest total TV on DVD sales for the year thus far.
 
Updated original post with details of another Firefly marathon, reproducing it here.
Another Firefly Marathon on the Sci-fi Channel March 10th:
Fire up your VCR or digital recorder in about a month's time, Sci-fi channel will have a day-long (about 2/3rds of the series) marathon of the series starting with the pilot episode on March 10th.
Date---------Time EST - Episode Name
03/10/2006 - 10:00 AM - SERENITY - PT 1
03/10/2006 - 11:00 AM - SERENITY - PT 2
03/10/2006 - 12:00 PM - THE TRAIN JOB
03/10/2006 - 01:00 PM - BUSHWHACKED
03/10/2006 - 02:00 PM - SHINDIG
03/10/2006 - 03:00 PM - SAFE
03/10/2006 - 04:00 PM - OUR MRS. REYNOLDS
03/10/2006 - 05:00 PM - JAYNESTOWN
03/10/2006 - 06:00 PM - FIREFLY - OUT OF GAS
 
[quote name='guardian_owl']Updated original post with details of another Firefly marathon, reproducing it here.
Another Firefly Marathon on the Sci-fi Channel March 10th:
Fire up your VCR or digital recorder in about a month's time, Sci-fi channel will have a day-long (about 2/3rds of the series) marathon of the series starting with the pilot episode on March 10th.
Date---------Time EST - Episode Name
03/10/2006 - 10:00 AM - SERENITY - PT 1
03/10/2006 - 11:00 AM - SERENITY - PT 2
03/10/2006 - 12:00 PM - THE TRAIN JOB
03/10/2006 - 01:00 PM - BUSHWHACKED
03/10/2006 - 02:00 PM - SHINDIG
03/10/2006 - 03:00 PM - SAFE
03/10/2006 - 04:00 PM - OUR MRS. REYNOLDS
03/10/2006 - 05:00 PM - JAYNESTOWN
03/10/2006 - 06:00 PM - FIREFLY - OUT OF GAS[/QUOTE]
Final reminder, starts tomorrow morning.
 
Wow what a fantastic movie. One of the best sci-fi movies I've ever seen. I watched about 4 episodes of the show and thought it was pretty good but damn the movie was great. Also, Mrs. javeryh had zero interest in watching the DVDs with me but after sitting through the movie she can't wait to watch it now.
 
[quote name='javeryh']Wow what a fantastic movie. One of the best sci-fi movies I've ever seen. I watched about 4 episodes of the show and thought it was pretty good but damn the movie was great. Also, Mrs. javeryh had zero interest in watching the DVDs with me but after sitting through the movie she can't wait to watch it now.[/QUOTE]
Pretty much everybody who has seen it loves it. Except for my brother. But I will destroy him
 
[quote name='ryanbph']good to hear javeryh[/quote]

We just started the DVDs last night. We watched the episode "Serenity (Parts 1 and 2)" and plan to watch another tonight... "The Train Job" I think it's called...
 
The Train Job was the show's second pilot episode since Serenity Part 1 and 2 were the last episodes aired. Some of the stuff in that episode feels kind of redundant, but it's still a good episode.
 
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