I am a heartfelt and passionate closet Browncoat. If you don’t know what that is, then you are missing out. One of the most bitter cancellations in TV history was Firefly, and due to fan response and begging for closure to the series we got the feature film Serenity. But ever since the fans have been itching for more, and little is done to move forward on it.
A story about a fan response campaign at Whedonesque says:
The purpose of the campaign is to show Universal that producing a sequel to Serenity is a smart and profitable business decision. To convince Universal of this, our campaign will show them exactly how much Browncoats are spending on Serenity- and Firefly-related products. From multiple copies of BDCE DVDs to Companion Books and action figures, from theater tickets to CD soundtracks and iTunes downloads, we will explicitly list every purchase and price thereof related to our ‘Verse, thus showing Universal how much money they stand to make by expanding our ‘Verse via the Serenity sequel we all so long to see.
Now I am as eager as any to see a return to the Serenity ‘Verse. But I don’t see myself participating in this particular campaign.
I wrote my letter to save Angel and Buffy. I wrote to insist they cancel Charmed. But I won’t be taking part in this campaign and I will tell you why.
The effort is to illustrate how much money Universal stands to make off the merchandising of a continued franchise. This is smart on the surface, but lacks any real substance. Despite the rabid fanbase, Serenity was considered a “failure” at the box office, but a huge success in DVD sales. The movie even caused a resurgence of new fans buying the collected TV series DVD set. So yes, attempting to appeal to the studio on grounds that will make sense to them is valid.
Just one problem: Universal is perfectly aware of just how much money is being spent on merchandising.
So as much as I would love to attend a hijacking of the national anthem at a hockey game and replacing it with the Ballad of Jayne, this campaign road seems to be paved with good intentions (for which I applaud them) but seems to be telling Universal what they already know.
You can check out the campaign effort at Faces of Serenity
