I don’t know… maybe the UK film going audience has better taste in movies than we do in North America. At any rate, the sci-fi film Serenity is number 1 at the box office in the UK at the moment… putting in a much better showing over there than it is here in North America.
I’m still a little stunned by it’s weak performance. It’s not an Oscar worthy film by any stretch of the imagination… but it’s a solid quality film. And no… I wasn’t a fan of the TV series. I never even saw the show until 2 weeks before the movie came out.
Joss Whedon needs all the ego boost he can muster right now after the beating Serenity has taken at the box office so far. And the Wonder Woman camp must be a little nervous right now too… I bet they thought that Whedon’s name alone would have mustered up more box office buzz than it has. It’ll be interesting to see how that turns out.
With the possible (but debatable) exception of one brief fight scene Serenity is not remotely like the Matrix.
For one thing it does not take itself anywhere near as seriously and for another the stoylines and settings are nothing alike.
The only real connection is actress Gina Torres (who is engaged to Laurence Fishburne) who was also in the two Matrix sequels.)
“Honestly, fans did thier research and found out that Serenity is based on a FAILED television series, so why make a movie about it?”
Dude, you’re out to lunch. The TV series rocks, and how much of a failure can you call a series that although it’s pushing up daisies still ended up with a theatrical release? Good TV shows die all the time.
I am also stunned by the poor box office performance and you can probably chalk it up to poor marketing on the part of the studio.
Vic
The problem with the Serenity movie is not whether or not it’s a good movie. Honestly, fans did thier research and found out that Serenity is based on a FAILED television series, so why make a movie about it? That’s what the problem is here.
It also looks like The Matrix but focused only on Zion. At least that’s the impression I got from the trailers.
It probably is a good movie – but I’ll wait for the DVD, and I’m sure this is where sales are going to take this movie to where the producers wanted it to be, and honestly – I think that was thier intention all along – to make a really good DVD movie.
Universal did a pretty crap job promoting this film here in North America. We haven’t even seen the usual round of commercials promoting the film 2 weeks after its release to pump more money into the box office. That and they didn’t deem it neccessary to view the film here in Toronto because it wasn’t part of their marketing strategy or some crap like that. Complete bollocks. Not their market?!!? You have one of the most fan friendly festivals in the world, are guaranteed at least three viewings by media and fans, ONE MONTH BEFORE RELEASE, and you don’t take advantage of the publicity? Idiots. Even the newspapers are running smaller ads in the most obscure places.
But I wonder if the success of the viewing at Edinborough film fest has anything to do with the number one in the UK? Word of mouth and positive festival reviews are gold. There was a lot of positive response to the viewings over there and there you have it.
But then Universal doesn’t have to worry do they? Why? Because all the browncoats and fans of the show will buy the DVD. Look at the box set sales of the original series. Universal knows they’re going to kill in the DVD sales and perhaps get some other converts as well. Did anyone notice that the price of the boxset went up when the movie release date neared. It was going for $20.00 before that. Clever bastards. They’re waiting for the DVD and so are we. Everyone is salivating for it. Box office sales? Who cares when you know every geek who lives in his parent’s basement is selling his blood to afford a crap single disc version of this movie when it comes out.
i just could not see it being a success here in the u.s.
-the feel was wrong.
my thoughts before serenity opened were that the general public (in the u.s.) isnt interested in a space movie adventure shoot em up. they also advertised it as being from the creator of buffy and i think that may have hurt it. buffy fans already knew about it. non buffy fans know what buffy is, and thus may stay away from serenity. i thought the movie would tank here in the u.s. but at least its doing well over there.
I think that when people finally get to see this film on DVD and TV then like the Shawshank Redemption (not that I am comparing them as films) then it will find its audience. By then of course it might be too late for a sequel or better still a second TV series.
I agree though the fact that film does not have a huge budget by Hollywood standards will help it’s sequel chances.
I’ve been thinking, and I think half the reason it tanked in the US is because it was such a cult show. While not many people saw it on TV, a lot did get the DVD. And they created a pretty decent buzz. Enough to get other people to hear it and get the movie green lit. When the movie finally came out those people that never watched the show probably felt a little intimidate or out of the loop and didn’t want to go into a movie which is more or less a continuation of a TV show they never watched.
I’m willing to bet the movie with do good on DVD and hopefully more around the world. The budget was only $30 or so million, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a sequel.
I live in London and saw it Sunday afternoon play to half a full house in the Cineworld at West India Quay.
This is great news, maybe the rest of the world will see the movie and make it marketable enough to produce a sequel. I liked the movie very much and have told friends and family to see it but they suck and have not.
This is good news. I saw it in an fairly empty cinema in Britain Monday night. The fact that it was a 6.15 pm showing (and the only other showing was 9.15pm) could not have helped.
No the film is not Oscar material (its hardly that kind of film) but it is a very good Science Fiction/Action Movie. In fact one of the very best films of that kind I have seen.
Like yourself John I had not seen the TV show until 2 weeks before the film came out. (I admit I picked up the DVD box set having heard so many good things about Firefly and had watched all 14 episoded in time for the movie.)
Sure it propably helps if you have seen the TV show. Then again you could say the same about any big screen TV spin-off film or any film Sequel/Prequel. It obviously helps if you have a prior attachment to the characters but it is not obligitary.
I have across the net read a few lukewarm/bad reviews from a handful of people but I have also read countless reviews from people who really love this movie.
If you have never watched Firefly go an see this movie anyway. This is not another disposable Hollywood SF/Action film.This film really deserves to be a sucess.
I live in the uk and i watched the movie last night and loved every second of it