boxofficeguru.com [link] predicts Serenity could open with $16M this weekend. They also predict Corpse Bride will fall to $12M, and Flightplan will fall to $15M. Into the Blue should reach $11M, and A History of Violence should hit $7M.

I heard that the Serenity previews will be counted in its first week box office. If they get counted for the weekend then I've contributed $40 to that.

eta: dw in Bitches sez that Flightplan is estimated to have exceeded Serenity on Friday.

dw "Spike's Bitches 26: Damn right I'm impure!" Oct 1, 2005 5:07:07 pm PDT

I think that estimate was done before the start of the weekend. Friday night's box office looks to be 3.9-4.2M, depending on what site you're using, which would put it on track for a $12-13M weekend and the #2 slot behind Flight Plan.

ETA: Or, you know, pretty much what dw said.

Yesterday, I read through and forgot most of what I wanted to respond to, hence today's meara:

Jayne is there in a suit.

I'm with AnthonyDe on this one. I thought it was Mal the first time I saw it. After reading about Jayne here, I watched carefully, and it was Mal. His earlier comments were just audio, so there was no continuity problem, anyway not there.

I had more trouble with Mal saying Simon wasn't crew than with Simon declaring his desire for Kaylee in what might well have been his last moments.

Oh, one thing that really jerked me back was everytime Mal threatened to ditch the crew. That OOC, I blinked at.

This really bothered me throughout. Part of what made Firefly so special to me was Mal's loyalty to his crew. If there were any doubts previously, Ariel and Objects in Space clearly showed that both Simon and River were part of the crew.

She's psychic and super intelligent so it's not surprising that she'd know how to fly, or at least the first parts.

I'm not sure what the psychic bit has to do with her being able to fly, but the brilliant part, as well as her knowledge of ships and love of space (as shown in pilot!Serenity and Bushwacked) makes her piloting the ship make sense to me.

A lot of people (self included) feel that the Operative's storyline was intended to give us a glimpse into Book's back story. One person mused that she wasn't sure she liked the notion of Book as a sociopath like the Operative, but that perhaps that was the whole point: that anyone, even the worst person alive, could be redeemed in the proper circumstances.

Although I saw the similarities and felt the connection, I hadn't really thought this out until I read Plei's explanation. This makes perfect sense to me, and I think it's likely to be the closest thing we get to an explanation for Book. This feels like a gift to fans to me. Like thegrommit, I appreciate the symmetry. Although I would like to see Book's actual story, I'm glad that Joss included,

Mal: "you'll have to tell me about that one day"

Book: "No, I really don't."

Otherwise, I would be longing for it and looking for it in future movies/tv. Now, I can take the Operative connection and be mostly satisfied.

But after they landed, the Reavers were still coming after them. Wasn't the thing that killed Wash something that was fired at Serenity by the Reavers? That's what I thought and it made perfect sense. Somebody had to die in that fight. Wash biting it the way that he did was awesome because in most movies, you'd expect the death to be during a great battle scene. This was unexpected but totally believable in the storyline. This is what Joss is fucking fantastic at - doing the unexpected but having it be a believable part of the story he's telling.

I liked Wash's death because it wasn't noble and heroic. There was no sacrifice. It was just a shitty thing that happened, the same way shitty things happen every day. It made it a lot more real to me than Book's hanging-on-to-life-to-give-inspiring-speech type death.

The bitchslap put more life into my fiction, and for me, not in a bad way.

I am with Gloomcookie, Jars, ita and Sparky. Wash's death tore me up the first time I saw it. I hated it, and wished there were more time to grieve. But it made perfect sense to me, both for this movie and for future ones. On rewatch today, I realized that there was a pretty big pause there for grief, too. It wasn't big enough. It couldn't be. Just like it couldn't be for Zoe, Mal or the rest of the crew. I wanted to cry when I was watching it, but there just wasn't time. Now, writing this, I'm finding that I'm getting weepy.

As the credits were rolling, a little girl passing down the aisle next to me turned to her mom and asked "why did they cancel it?" The mother immediately replied "because they're idiots!" Good times.

Damn straight.

Whenever I see the odd review that claims Joss's tv roots are showing in the feature "Serenity," I think, "weird, 'cause (continued...)

( continues...) whenever I look at an ep of tele that he directed, it always looks like a movie."

I can really see both sides. Pilot!Serenity actually seemed more cinematic to me than Movie!Serenity. I love the movie. I'm probably heading back for viewing three tomorrow. But I think I've finally figured out what bothers me the most about the movie. It's that it's choppy in a way that can work on the small screen, but which I haven't really seen ME employ on tv. I know that a "natural" feel was employed in Firefly, and that's not what I mean, but I'm not sure how to explain this better at this point.

dw in Bitches sez that Flightplan is estimated to have exceeded Serenity on Friday.

Given Jody Foster and that Flightplan actually looks like a good flick, that's not terribly surprising. Disappointing, though. Still, we don't really need Serenity to be a blockbuster. It just needs to make enough for two sequels and a new series. That was my goal before, when I couldn't envision a significantly different series even though I knew it would need to change. Now, I can see some of the changes with the deaths of Book and Wash, and although I'm sad about those deaths, I'm glad for the life that they give to the story.

I know the Big Macs didn't help him, but he looked better when he was fat. Now he looks frail and I fear for him.

I know Clinton has had heart problems over the last few years, but I'm amazed at how unwell he looks. I remember that Carter aged tremendously in office, but I had thought that Clinton looked quite well when he first got out. It's like W is killing him, which is, I suppose, not all that surprising.

The Friday 10:30 show in Evanston was packed. I didn't notice any costumes but there were lots of Firefly related t-shirts and a cunning hat. Good crowd - big laughs, gasps, and several moments with applause.

I think I may have stopped breathing for a while when Wash bought it.

I think, "weird, 'cause whenever I look at an ep of tele that he directed, it always looks like a movie."

As much as I liked the new film, I had the subversive thought that maybe Joss should have just thrown some of Universal's money at Zoic to redo the special effects at feature film resolution and swapped out "Serenity" for Serenity at the last moment. I think it's the better viewing experience of the two.

I'm not sure what the psychic bit has to do with her being able to fly, but the brilliant part, as well as her knowledge of ships and love of space (as shown in pilot!Serenity and Bushwacked) makes her piloting the ship make sense to me.

She also got some practical experience with spaceship flying in "Objects in Space." But we don't know how extensive her psychic gifts really are - after 8 months on Serenity in Wash's presence, how much of his piloting knowledge and skill mightn't she have picked up by osmosis?

avocado:

As for the aging politician thing, I don't think we can infer evilness. Love or hate his job as president, I think everyone can agree that Jimmy Carter was/is a fiercely moral, good man. And he shriveled up like Dorian Gray post-portrait destruction during his term in office.

As for the aging politician thing, I don't think we can infer evilness. Love or hate his job as president, I think everyone can agree that Jimmy Carter was/is a fiercely moral, good man. And he shriveled up like Dorian Gray post-portrait destruction during his term in office.

I loved him dearly, but so was the country's morale.

I think Clinton aged a lot in office. And sudden thinness ages a person in the short-run. Also, he's less ruddy, which is a by-product of being in better cardiac health, but to the eye, it looks the same as being pale.

it would be fuck Hamilton, chuck Jefferson, marry Adams.

Oh I agree. Except I'd hold out for Samuel. Q. has all the glory, but Sam = free beer.

Wait. Kat, did you mean Q, or just JA?

Kat, did you mean Q, or just JA?

John Adams. JQA was a fine man, but I don't know enough about him to want to say I'd marry him. Plus JQA doesn't qualify as a founding father, I think. John Adams, though, was an ass kicker and had a great relationship with his wife.

It's sort of like FCM with the Serenity men (it's far easier with the women for me F-kaylee, C-Inara, M-Zoe ...I'm not sure where River fits, but there you have it.).

You'd fuck Mal, because, hello, getting out of bed to talk to Inara, did you see those hips? But he's Dysfunction wrapped in Depression dipped in Anger which might not make fun for the long haul. You'd have to Chuck Simon because, clearly gay or incesty. But you'd marry Wash. Sure he might drive you crazy but he's time tested as a good husband who is capable of having a happy relationship. (again, don't know where Jayne falls into it, but I only need to consider 3).

It's the same deal with the founding fathers. Pick the one who had a loving relationship and that leaves JA and possibly Washington, but Washington owned people too and that sort of knocks him out of my books.

Oh, I've been wanting to read the Hamilton book. Must remember to check for it next time I'm in a bookstore.

But we don't know how extensive her psychic gifts really are - after 8 months on Serenity in Wash's presence, how much of his piloting knowledge and skill mightn't she have picked up by osmosis?

From the show, more than the movie, she isn't just a psychic. With everything that may or may not have been done to her, and with whatever training she was given to turn her into this incredible weapon, her piloting didn't surprise me a bit. Also, as someone mentioned, she'd earlier shown some real technical knowledge of the ship.

I'm glad to hear the speculation about Book - I hadn't thought about in those terms, but it makes a lot of sense, and makes me feel a bit better about the loss.

Wash was a total shock the first time round, but - don't hate me - it was almost worth it to see the real Zoe. I think Zoe was my biggest beef with how any of the characters were portrayed. I really think she got kind of lost in the shuffle, and what there was of her didn't really bring out her utterly unflappable badass, or her bond with Mal.