Earlier this week, ‘Veronica Mars’ creator Rob Thomas launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the money to bring the fan favorite show back to life in the form of a major motion picture. In less than 12 hours with 30 days remaining in the campaign, the Kickstarter was completely funded, resulting in resurrection of the Kristen Bell vehicle. Now at 51,614 backers contributing $3,403,996 with 28 days still to go, it’s safe to say that this movie is going to get funded and is actually happening, thanks to the dedicated fans of the show.
Now that ‘Veronica Mars’ has set a precedent, what about other brilliant shows that ended before their time? In the realm of science fiction, one of the first shows that come to mind when you say gone too soon is ‘Firefly’. But will Joss Whedon follow Rob Thomas’ example and look to the fans to fund a sequel to ‘Serenity’?
In a recent interview with Buzzfeed, Whedon expresses his joy for the ‘Veronica Mars’ crew, but informs his fans that he currently has some other commitments to take care of before he can even start thinking of another ‘Firefly’ project:
“That’s what everybody wants to know about. Uh, yeah. My fourth feeling when I read about [the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign] was a kind of dread. Because I realized the only thing that would be on everybody’s mind right now. I’ve said repeatedly that I would love to make another movie with these guys, and that remains the case. It also remains the case that I’m booked up by Marvel for the next three years, and that I haven’t even been able to get ‘Dr. Horrible 2’ off the ground because of that. So I don’t even entertain the notion of entertaining the notion of doing this, and won’t. Couple years from now, when Nathan [Fillion]’s no longer [on] ‘Castle’ and I’m no longer the Tom Hagen of the Marvel Universe and making a giant movie, we might look and see where the market is then. But right now, it’s a complete non-Kickstarter for me.”
That makes a lot of sense. While we’re all huge fans of ‘Firefly’ and we’d love for the crew of Serenity to fly again, Whedon is a bit tied up at the moment doing some amazing things with the comic book movie genre for Marvel. Plus, if he continues to produce major box office breaking blockbusters for the House of Ideas, then maybe he won’t even have to go to Kickstarter to fund another ‘Firefly’ project. The studio might just toss money his way to make whatever he wants.
Speaking of money, Kickstarter might also not be the best route to take for Captain Mal and his gang. Another ‘Serenity’ would cost considerably more to make than the ‘Veronica Mars’ movie. Whedon addresses this matter, as well as the concern that new ‘Firefly’ might not live up to the original:
“Yes. We come to Veronica Mars to hear her talk and hear her father talk. But ‘Firefly’/’Serenity’, it’s kind of a different animal — and then there’s also the question of what kind of animal it is. Because some people are talking about ‘Firefly’ episodes. Some people are talking about [a new] ‘Serenity’. I think anything we could get off the ground would be appreciated by the fans. But what form it would take is I think under some debate.
For me, [Kickstarter] doesn’t just open the floodgates. God knows, things are cheaper now than when we made even ‘Serenity’. Good effects can be done in a different manner. Nor is that universe all about spectacle either. But it is a tad more expensive — and a little all-consuming! And of course, there’s the other fear: What if it’s not that good? I can do something that’s not that good — that’s fine. But if I do that and it’s not that good, I’m going to feel really stupid.”
I have a hard time believing that Joss Whedon working on ‘Firefly’ again would yield horrendous results, but I completely understand where he’s coming from. Bottom line right now is that the filmmaker is just too busy to even think about the possibility of doing something with ‘Firefly’. But somewhere down the line when he does have time to think about it, I hope that the end result is Malcolm Reynolds’ ship flying through space once again. Who knows? Maybe he’ll be able to pull something together for the 15th or 20th anniversary of ‘Firefly’. Until then, the Browncoats will be ready and waiting.
Would you back a Kickstarter campaign to resurrect Joss Whedon’s ‘Firefly’? What sort of incentives do you think would be up fo grabs for backers? Or do you think that all of Whedon’s success would be enough for the studio to back another film without our help. Throw in your two cents in the comment section.
