So Universal is thinking of Joss as a brand name and that slapping his name on projects might make them more marketable?

No. It's not about being "marketable." You'd be surprised how many people have no clue who that Joss Whedon guy is. It's about Universal's belief that Joss can deliver them a highly profitable franchise down the road. That's why I said "blockbusters like Wonder Woman, etc." I mean, that they're looking at him to do big movies like the X-Men and Spidermans of this world.

It's not that different than 20th giving Joss $16M to, hopefully, develop a hit show for them.

Also, $40-50M? Not that much money in today's movie making climate.

Also, $40-50M? Not that much money in today's movie making climate.

It's a pittance. Studios regularly throw away that kind of cash on crap they KNOW isn't going to make any money. They give the big bugets to crap that they know WILL make them a lot of money.

I'm just glad they tossed a few bucks towards making something good, regardless of whether it was blind luck, vehement fans, some executive's hunch that that Joss guy might be talented or whether Mercury was in retrograde. I honestly think that how the movie busines works is that fucked up.

But clearly, CLEARLY, neither I, nor the F:IA campaign, had anything to do with the release of the DVDs, or the DVD sales. Which is what I am saying. Clearly.

I think I missed the part where the F:IA campaign led to the DVDs. Is that the common perception? It couldn't have hurt. Even if X amount of people watch a show that doesn't mean they well spend money on it. Those postcards could have represented a level of committment suits might assume would translate into sales. I'm not sure of the timing, even if a decision to make DVDs happened prior that kind of support could have reinforced the decision somehow.

Playing devil's advocate, F:IA certainly did get notoriety which may have created a buzz to the outsider. I know when I hear of a movement to save a show I become curious and check it out, case in point: GF. If a F:IA created buzz led to someone who wouldn't have bought the DVD to buy one then there is an indirect contiribution of F:IA to DVD sales however large or small that may be. Futher more, I don't think you can totally take F:IA out of the movie equation because it did organize, galvanize and solidify the Browncoats as a force and obviously they are the ones who bought DVDs and actively recruit people to watch the show and buy their own DVDs.

It's about Universal's belief that Joss can deliver them a highly profitable franchise down the road.

So they are buying his loyalty. That makes sense. So when Joss has his next big idea Universal will go to him and say "who's your buddy? who's your pal? remember who helped you out with that Serenity thing?" It's kind of like the Godfather. "Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But uh, until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter's wedding day."

You'd be surprised how many people have no clue who that Joss Whedon guy is.

I'm more surprised at the backlash.

I guarantee you that they did not greenlight Serenity based solely on wanting more from Joss in the future. The producers who approved it are judged week to week based on what the films they worked on bring in, and if they spend $30 million to gain the possible future services of a writer/director, they'd be out of there. It's way cheaper--if they want him to do "Wonder Woman"--to say "We'll give you an extra $10 million over your quote to do this script," than it is to greenlight an entire film, and there's less chance of hurting their reps by having him associated with a flop.

Okay, Anthony, you lost me. I have no idea what this "backlash" is that you're speaking of.

I guarantee you that they did not greenlight Serenity based solely on wanting more from Joss in the future.

As I said above, I think the DVD sales were a factor. There were probably other factors, too, that none of us are aware of. But I do think the driving force - the reason they even took the meeting and ran the numbers and said, "hey, at worst, we can probably break even on this" - was Joss.

To sum up before dropping it: I will never believe, short of Scott Stuber picking up the phone and giving me a ring, that a $4,000 ad in a trade magazine had anything to do with Universal's decision.

But the success of the dvd sales had nothing to do with greenlighting the movie either?

Because it seems to me that in the whole running of numbers and keeping of their jobs by producers, that if there is X fanbase buying a dvd set of a cancelled tv show and being "vocal" by whatever means (postcards, contributing to a nice ad, spending actual money to buy the dvds) that X counts.

I prefer to think that, since eventually they want our money either through commercials on tv or dvds or whathaveyou, at some point what I am willing to actually give them money for matters.

And when enough people want to spend money the way I want to, stuff I like will be around. Until then, I don't watch their shows and I don't buy their stuff and I don't see their movies.

I don't know. Really, Cindy can lie to me all she wants. It's a better story.

edit: And if this discussion has calmed down, no need to start it again.

If anything, the $4,000 ad in a trade magazine probably made FBC and 20th realise they would easy make their cash back via licensing rights - at the time the advert was placed, they were standing to loose a bit from Firefly.

DVD sales *WERE* a chief part in the economic scaling of SERENITY. And, you know, those DVDs didn't initially magically fall off the shelves - that was a fan thing at the time. Universal were in a situation where they could balance out a budget of how many fans they thought were out there and how many DVDs they think they can sell of Serenity. If it does poorly, I'd imagine over time it'll still make it's money back easy. If it does well, they will get a huge amount of profit margin - more than on, for example, WAR OF THE WORLDS - and have a franchise which will require less effort to advertise next time around as it will have a bigger built in audience and common knowledge.

It's a win win movie for Universal, and not really a hard sell. Whilst some fans may be convinced they saved the show and made the movie, it doesn't really pan out like that -- but they are certainly cash cows. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, either. Oh, and Joss Whedon as a named film director doesn't stick well, but he does have a fair amount of film and industry experience which helps swing it more.

I wasn't invoking it for its thread-ending effects but for its Partyman-spitting effects.

This supports my theory that you may, in fact, be Evil.

Okay, Anthony, you lost me. I have no idea what this "backlash" is that you're speaking of.

I'm glad that wasn't just me, Kristen.

Anthony, I'm echoing Kristen's confusion. What backlash?