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Oct. 3rd, 2005 10:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhienellethSerenity's opening weekend box office take was $10,141,000. Universal's director of distribution is calling the number "respectable" though they obviously hope that word of mouth will carry and Serenity's box office presence will remain at least as respectable for a few more weeks. They went on to say that they believe DVD sales will be huge for the movie, and the overall tone of the article was quite positive. (Sorry, I can't link it because now the site won't load for me for some reason.) Basically, thus far the movie has done exactly what they hoped, pulling at least the fans into the theaters, with hopes to grab more moviegoers in the coming weeks via good buzz. They (Universal, the people we want to decide a sequel is a shiny idea) said they feel a $10 mill opening weekend is really quite good for a genre movie that has a definite "niche" audience, versus something like Flightplan that appeals to a much wider range.
I saw it twice this weekend. Opening night the theater was so packed, people were sitting on the stairs to watch it. It was very obviously a crowd of fans, as they booed when the screen unexpectedly showed one last preview instead of starting the movie. A quite responsive crowd, everyone laughed and gasped as one at all the appropriate moments, and clapped at the end. It was very fun. I saw it again on Sunday afternoon, and while the theater wasn't sold out, it was quite full for a Sunday matinee crowd. This group was far more subdued, and didn't strike me as all being Firefly fans, necessarily.
The second time was actually a much more enjoyable movie-watching experience for me. The first time was so emotional, I couldn't just enjoy the movie for what it was. The deaths, obviously, were a good portion of that. Book's death didn't destroy me the way Wash's did, but still left me very sad. I really wanted to know his story, and now we never will. Although...I'm fairly positive that he was once an Operative. That sort of ID would explain all the mysteries, all the odd bits of knowledge, and also why he eventually gave it up to become a preacher. (Like the Operative at the end of this movie, perhaps?) Also, he knew a heck of a lot about how an Operative works. I think Joss sneakily gave us Book's story in this movie, just disguised as another character.
Wash's death...well, it did exactly what Joss intended. It shocked me, saddened and angered me in equal parts, and made me terrified for the other characters for the last twenty minutes of the movie. I was certain Zoey was going to die, sacrificing herself on the altar of her grief. Then when Simon was shot, and when River dove back in to the Reavers...well, let's just say I was very relieved when they all lived.
Then, when the movie was done, I spent the next day or so being too emotionally wrecked to even post about it here. I'm going to miss our Wash, with his humor and less violent approach than nearly any of the other characters. And I'm still very angry that Joss chose to kill him, and so...unexpectedly. I can see, now, why he did it. From a writing standpoint. And I can raise my glass to him as a fellow writer, because even knowing how it would draw the audience in, I don't think I could have killed Wash in the same circumstances. Not to mention the terrible risk he was taking, killing a character so beloved by the fans. The one thing Joss doesn't want to do is alienate his loyal audience. But even so, I'm going to harbor this sense of loss for a good long time, I think. Because I can imagine the next movie without Wash. I can see it, and I know that Joss will write a script that has the characters still remembering, still grieving, still feeling the loss as much as I do as they go on with their lives as they must. And it's going to be so damn good. And the fact that I can see that, and know that killing Wash wasn't necessarily the really really wrong decision I want it to be, makes me mad.
*sigh*
That's the sign of a goram good story, folks.
The second viewing was much less traumatic. And it allowed me to see all those things I wrote about above; things I couldn't see at all after that first viewing. I could just sit back, and enjoy the story, the characters, the scenery. I still flinched when Wash died. I cried when Kaylee asked "Where's Wash?" and Zoey so calmly said "He's not coming," while shoving another round into her weapon. But it was without the shock of the first time. I didn't feel like part of my love for these characters and this world had just been callously amputated. It was just good. I highly recommend a second viewing for any of you still in the amputee phase of Wash's death.
The big reveal with Miranda and the creation of the Reavers? I loved it. Very well done, very horrifying and exactly the kind of thing a "good intentioned" and controlling government body might try to do. It will be very interesting in the BDS to see the response of the general populace to this knowledge. Will the Alliance's PR wizards be able to spin it? Will the majority of people deny the truth of it as nothing but a hoax? Or will another uprising be in the making, another War for Independence?
Interesting stuff to speculate on.
Also, interesting side note - I saw it the second time with my girlfriends (all of whom I hooked with my DVDs a year ago), and after viewing it, one of my friends said "Hmm, I don't know why, but I kind fo want Jayne and River to get together." And my other friends all looked surprised and then said "Yeah, there did seem to be something there..." None of them participate in fandom, so it was kind of shocking to hear something come from them that I've only seen/heard in fic online. :) (The same friend hit me in the arm twice after Wash's death, saying tearfully both times "...but they were supposed to have babies!" Because she remembered that conversation between Zoey and Wash in Heart of Gold. She normally loves what she calls 'tragic romance', but apparently this was too tragic even for her.)
In any case, I have this urge to write fic now. Lots of fic. Zoey grieving fic (because she never got to do that in the movie), Simon/Kaylee fic. Maybe even Jayne/River.
I'm going to see it for the third time this afternoon with my Mom (she works weekends, and couldn't see it with us Friday night). I'll be interested to see what I notice the third time around. :)
I saw it twice this weekend. Opening night the theater was so packed, people were sitting on the stairs to watch it. It was very obviously a crowd of fans, as they booed when the screen unexpectedly showed one last preview instead of starting the movie. A quite responsive crowd, everyone laughed and gasped as one at all the appropriate moments, and clapped at the end. It was very fun. I saw it again on Sunday afternoon, and while the theater wasn't sold out, it was quite full for a Sunday matinee crowd. This group was far more subdued, and didn't strike me as all being Firefly fans, necessarily.
The second time was actually a much more enjoyable movie-watching experience for me. The first time was so emotional, I couldn't just enjoy the movie for what it was. The deaths, obviously, were a good portion of that. Book's death didn't destroy me the way Wash's did, but still left me very sad. I really wanted to know his story, and now we never will. Although...I'm fairly positive that he was once an Operative. That sort of ID would explain all the mysteries, all the odd bits of knowledge, and also why he eventually gave it up to become a preacher. (Like the Operative at the end of this movie, perhaps?) Also, he knew a heck of a lot about how an Operative works. I think Joss sneakily gave us Book's story in this movie, just disguised as another character.
Wash's death...well, it did exactly what Joss intended. It shocked me, saddened and angered me in equal parts, and made me terrified for the other characters for the last twenty minutes of the movie. I was certain Zoey was going to die, sacrificing herself on the altar of her grief. Then when Simon was shot, and when River dove back in to the Reavers...well, let's just say I was very relieved when they all lived.
Then, when the movie was done, I spent the next day or so being too emotionally wrecked to even post about it here. I'm going to miss our Wash, with his humor and less violent approach than nearly any of the other characters. And I'm still very angry that Joss chose to kill him, and so...unexpectedly. I can see, now, why he did it. From a writing standpoint. And I can raise my glass to him as a fellow writer, because even knowing how it would draw the audience in, I don't think I could have killed Wash in the same circumstances. Not to mention the terrible risk he was taking, killing a character so beloved by the fans. The one thing Joss doesn't want to do is alienate his loyal audience. But even so, I'm going to harbor this sense of loss for a good long time, I think. Because I can imagine the next movie without Wash. I can see it, and I know that Joss will write a script that has the characters still remembering, still grieving, still feeling the loss as much as I do as they go on with their lives as they must. And it's going to be so damn good. And the fact that I can see that, and know that killing Wash wasn't necessarily the really really wrong decision I want it to be, makes me mad.
*sigh*
That's the sign of a goram good story, folks.
The second viewing was much less traumatic. And it allowed me to see all those things I wrote about above; things I couldn't see at all after that first viewing. I could just sit back, and enjoy the story, the characters, the scenery. I still flinched when Wash died. I cried when Kaylee asked "Where's Wash?" and Zoey so calmly said "He's not coming," while shoving another round into her weapon. But it was without the shock of the first time. I didn't feel like part of my love for these characters and this world had just been callously amputated. It was just good. I highly recommend a second viewing for any of you still in the amputee phase of Wash's death.
The big reveal with Miranda and the creation of the Reavers? I loved it. Very well done, very horrifying and exactly the kind of thing a "good intentioned" and controlling government body might try to do. It will be very interesting in the BDS to see the response of the general populace to this knowledge. Will the Alliance's PR wizards be able to spin it? Will the majority of people deny the truth of it as nothing but a hoax? Or will another uprising be in the making, another War for Independence?
Interesting stuff to speculate on.
Also, interesting side note - I saw it the second time with my girlfriends (all of whom I hooked with my DVDs a year ago), and after viewing it, one of my friends said "Hmm, I don't know why, but I kind fo want Jayne and River to get together." And my other friends all looked surprised and then said "Yeah, there did seem to be something there..." None of them participate in fandom, so it was kind of shocking to hear something come from them that I've only seen/heard in fic online. :) (The same friend hit me in the arm twice after Wash's death, saying tearfully both times "...but they were supposed to have babies!" Because she remembered that conversation between Zoey and Wash in Heart of Gold. She normally loves what she calls 'tragic romance', but apparently this was too tragic even for her.)
In any case, I have this urge to write fic now. Lots of fic. Zoey grieving fic (because she never got to do that in the movie), Simon/Kaylee fic. Maybe even Jayne/River.
I'm going to see it for the third time this afternoon with my Mom (she works weekends, and couldn't see it with us Friday night). I'll be interested to see what I notice the third time around. :)
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Date: 2005-10-03 08:18 pm (UTC)Here's something even stranger--I'd seen perhaps 2 full episodes of the show when I went in to the movie, and at the end I turned to my friend and said "Is it weird that I think I'm turning in to a River/Jayne shipper?" So are we all insane, or is Joss planting subliminal messages to us? :)
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Date: 2005-10-03 11:44 pm (UTC)I'm okay with this. *pokes*