I have just spent the afternoon reading an early draft of Serenity. A longer one. With some pretty big changes.
I do not know if this is the original “Kitchen Sink” version Joss has spoken of, the first draft where he threw everything in, the one that had to be whittled down to fit into a) two hours, b) 40 million dollars, and c) Joss’ dream of a great Serenity movie. I do know this one is 190 pages long and comes from a reliable source who’s now offering copies on eBay.
I also feel like Harry Potter 7 showed up on my doorstep and no one knows about it but me, so before I explode I’m going to give you my review and a recap of What Might Have Been.
Note: This is Joss’ work, but it is not the final version he filmed, directed, and edited together. That final version, the one we’ve seen up on the screen, is the version he’s proud of. I may not be doing him or you any favors by telling you about his early ideas. But there is a lot of great stuff here that Browncoats would love to know about, and some bittersweet choices that, at this point, hadn’t been made yet.
Following is a recap of the script, with excerpts and my own added comments. “The final” refers to the movie version.
Serenity
(early version)
The opening is the same, the teacher and the students in history class. Slightly different dialogue, not as polished as the final. River’s speech is less effective, I think, but she does mention that the Alliance is trying to govern 72 planets.
Same cut to the lab, Simon is still there. I’ve heard that in the original version someone else broke her out, but I’ve never heard it verified. Here it’s Simon, and apart from a struggle with one of the lab techs everything is more or less the same. Dr. Mathias spells out her capabilities a bit more clearly, openly mentioning that with the right trigger she could take out a roomful of people. Much more effective in the final, I think, when we didn’t know it was coming. There’s more of a chase afterwards, and they escape through the lobby atrium instead of a floor several stories up.
The Operative introductory scene is not as polished as it would become. Here the Operative has a name: Jude. There is mention of two members of Parliament committing suicide after learning what River now apparently knows. And again mention is made of River’s combat abilities. I find I prefer leaving it vague.
Opening scene of Serenity, long oner shot introducing the crew. Same as before with one big change: when Mal goes to the engine room to berate Kaylee, Book is there helping her. I smiled when I saw that, and when Simon, during his rant, mentioned something from a Firefly episode:
SIMON
I’ve earned my passage treating
bullet holes, knife wounds, laser
burns…
MAL
The job has some slight hazards —
SIMON
I had to re-attach your ear.
MAL
(smirks)
Yeah. That was…
(not smirking)
…so painful…
Mal gets innocked, everyone gets on the mule, they take off to rob a bank. Same scene with Kaylee and Simon, except for the part after him not spitting. Simon mutters he should have gotten River off the boat months ago. An achingly wistful Kaylee suggests there’s maybe a reason he didn’t. He says there’s a reason, and it’s that he’s a moron. After he leaves, Kaylee thinks she’s starting to agree with him.
Trading post scene is the same. One deleted exchange I would have loved to see, though:
MAL
One of you has the code to that
vault. You might make yourself
known at this point.
No one moves.
MAL
(continuing)
Okay, there’s a couple of things
I’d like to make clear. First, we
don’t want to hurt anybody. Second,
my large friend over here really
does wanna hurt somebody. He
kinda craves violence.
JAYNE
It’s a flaw in my character.
MAL
It is a little disturbing. So I
strongly suggest the trade agent
make themselves known now, or my
boy’ll be picking victims at random.
JAYNE
I’d like to mention I also hit women.
MAL
Good point, let’s factor that in.
The subsequent Reaver chase is similar, only with two skiffs coming after them and more than one Reaver standing up and attacking after the barn swallow.
This time when Jayne is hauling bodies and wreckage to the bay doors it’s Book he’s telling about fighting a man in a fair fight, etc. As Jayne flushes the bodies out, Book reads over them.
Meanwhile Kaylee is watching Simon pack, trying to convince him to stay. Simon comes close to admitting he liked her, but you know what happens. He admits that Mal told him early on never to touch Kaylee. She doesn’t take that well.
There’s also a River scene where she walks around the ship, barefoot, remembering. She goes into Inara’s shuttle, now mostly bare and abandoned, and she wanders around the room muttering lines that were spoken here during the episodes. “What did I say to you about coming into my shuttle uninvited…?” She lowers herself onto the bed and continues to mutter someone else’s memories, only these are frankly sexual, and that’s how Mal finds her. He is wildly uncomfortable, she is completely calm.
RIVER
She lied. Sweet lies, like spun
sugar. A web around her eyes. A
veil. Can’t see in, can’t see out.
Mal tries to explain that he’s not mad at her, it’s just that he and Simon… River walks past him, telling him that everyone leaves him. And she has things to alphabetize.
Mal stays behind, looking around and picking up a forgotten photo, the same one we saw in the final. After it runs he stands there, inhaling her scent in the room, as Wash finds him and tells him they’re landing soon. “If you’re, um, done, ah, smelling the shuttle.”
We cut to the Companion Training House, where Inara and the House Priestess Gheydra are confronting a local general about how his men treated one of the girls. Gheydra tries to be conciliatory but Inara stays in his face. Afterwards Gheydra accuses her of acting like that captain she complains about, to Inara’s shock.
On Beaumonde, same scene in the Maidenhead Bar except this time Kaylee throws a drink in Mal’s face and yells at him about threatening Simon.
KAYLEE (cont’d)
I think the Doc was fair sweet on
me, but no — you just couldn’t
stand the thought of anyone
gettin’ bumpy if you can’t.
WASH
(re: Zoe)
Does this mean we have to stop?
More or less the same after that. This time Jayne notices the Fruity Oaty Bar commercial and hums along.
The fight happens, Simon rushes in and yells, River goes to sleep.
The Operative watches the feed. More details on how he researches Mal. Back on Serenity they head for Haven, and someone named Dresden (since Book is on the ship). This time Jayne mentions the commercial and they figure out about the subliminal message before they call Mr. Universe. Some great lines here.
JAYNE
Well can I, in the grand tradition
of bein’ me, suggest we kick ’em
the hell off this boat at long last?
Mr. Universe isn’t as all-knowing in this one, but just as manic.
They arrive at Haven and meet Dresden, a weathered miner and apparently a trusted friend. They joke about the cannon mount Dreden took off “some naughty bandits couldn’t pay their way.”
At the Companion House Alliance ships land. Inara goes to greet them, happy that they’re here to handle the local thug problem, then sees it’s the Operative.
Scene with Mal in front of the handcuffed River, as she tells him what he’s thinking, mostly about what to do with her and could he kill her. He tells her enough of his brain and tries to get answers out of hers, no real luck. On his way out he stops Book from going in with the bible. Mal makes some jokes about the usefulness of religion, then tells Book to stay outside and think happy thoughts. She’d probably hear them.
Mal crashes in his room, gets the wave from Inara, all the same except Book is with the crew in the cockpit watching. They go to Inara’s planet, sneaking into orbit by hiding in the fiery exhaust of a larger ship and nearly burning themselves up to do it. They go blackout and drop, dark and silent, below the atmosphere before leveling off and landing.
Same fight with the Operative (Jude), the escape we saw in the deleted scenes, more of Inara skillfully avoiding the other ships. No crybabies this time.
Everyone greets Inara, and they have the powwow in the common room. Not as intense as the one filmed, and lacking the “you want to run this ship?” exchange. There’s also some talk about how destabilizing the Alliance with whatever the Operative is afraid of not necessarily being a good thing. Inara reminds them the Alliance has helped a lot of people. Mal says they’re heading back to Haven.
Dresden won’t take them in. No offense, but Mal’s too hot right now. While they’re talking, missiles come over the horizon to blast the place. As Mal watches, Dresden and the others get cut down. The Alliance ship comes in sight and Serenity backs up fast. They try to draw the ship away from the camp but it ignores them to finish the job – it’s not here for them, just to ruin their hidey hole. Serenity rams the ship a few times and they struggle to stay alive in an unarmed ship.
Meanwhile Jayne decides to give ’em what they want and goes after River, who beats him up (again) and gets out.
They finally defeat the Alliance ship after Mal has Wash fly over top of it and cut power. Painful for all involved, but it works as the dead weight of Serenity slams the Alliance ship to the ground.
The Operative contacts Mal and threatens him some more. He signs off; River is suddenly there holding a gun to Mal’s head. Zoe comes back from chasing River to report she’s free.
MAL
(deadpan)
Are you sure?
River brings up Miranda, they argue about it and Reavers, Mal runs out and starts barking orders to Reaverize the ship. This time we see the crew working on the ship, and there’s an exchange between Simon, Book, and Zoe as they strap bodies to the hull that’s interesting:
SIMON
You were in that same war. But
you live almost like a person
might; you have an actual
relationship — a marriage. You
didn’t turn into some… Gorgon…
ZOE
I’m career Army, my whole family
is. I was already in when the war
started. Mal volunteered. He
joined the fight because he
believed. He believed his planet
should be left alone. Believed we
would win if we gave our hearts to
it, that his generals wouldn’t lay
down arms while his men were still
dying around him… that God would
help us in our darkest place.
She cinches a knot tight, moves to the next body.
ZOE
(continuing)
See, that’s the difference between
Mal and me. All I ever lost was a war.
We see the scene cut from the movie of Mal and Inara talking in her shuttle, although here he’s intriqued when she admits she hasn’t taken any clients since she left.
Scenes through the Reavers and on Miranda are more or less the same, and there’s the scene we saw in the deleted scenes of Mal and Inara holding each other after the Dr. Caron scene. They all agree to get the word out, they contact Mr. Universe, he gets sworded, the trap is set.
As they’re coming back through the Reaver space, Jayne and Book talk.
JAYNE
How long do you figure it’d take
you to read over all them folk
down there?
BOOK
(still quiet)
All my life.
Zoe and Wash agree if they make it out, they’ll make babies. Lots of babies.
This time when Mal fires at the Reaver ship the Reavers catch up and he has to keep firing while they’re zipping through space. There’s a scene where Reavers board Serenity and attack Mal, who has to fight them off without letting go of the ship or letting his suit get ripped.
Same scenes with the Operative, same fakeout with the approaching Reaver ships, same big battle. One cool and deleted bit; when a big ship gets too close during a desperate moment, Mal releases the other shuttle to spin off from Serenity and smash their pursuers. But this time when Serenity lands they don’t lose big chunks of the ship and Wash remains whole and ungutted. They all run from the ship barely ahead of the Reavers. As they leave Serenity, Mal looks back at her and says “Thanks for the ride.” Same standoff in the same location. Wash and Book are both here for this — which is giving me goosebumps as I read it, by the way — so we get more fun dialogue.
ZOE
Go.
MAL
I ain’t used to bein’ ordered
around by you, Zoe. It’s kind of
a turn on.
WASH
I’m standing right here.
This time we have a scene where an anguished Book realizes he has to shoot to kill. We don’t get the “You mean to say… sex?” exchange with Kaylee and Simon, though.
Mal finds the dead Mr. Universe, gets the message, takes off.
This time Jayne’s the one that gets his spine slashed and bandaged up by Simon. Book gets hit by a Reaver, as does Zoe. Jayne attacks all of the oncoming Reavers at once and pushes them back with a crate; Wash shoots the one on Zoe. They switch back to Mal having the same argument and fight with the Operative (whom Mal calls “Judy.”)
Zoe gets hit in the sholder. Kaylee gets darted. They retreat behind the blast doors, but an explosion from the Reavers’ fire takes out the control panel. Jayne’s last grenade gets tossed, then they start discussing options. Hilariously, Jayne tries to trigger River by singing the Fruity Oaty Bar song; Simon tells him the trigger’s not in the song.
JAYNE
Well, now I know that…
Simon gets hit, River runs off, throws the bag back, and the Reaverfest begins.
Mal fights. The crew listens to the snarling coming from behind the door. Mal fights some more, same battle we’ve seen. He wins, and sends the wave.
River fighting the Reavers, kicking butt. Finishes as before, the Alliance busts in, the Operative tells them to stand down.
No funeral rocket, somewhat more cheerful closing scenes. The Operative says his piece (including saying explicitly that no one is looking for the Tams anymore) and leaves. Mal has a scene with River and Simon that establishes they’re staying. Simon has a scene with Kaylee that establishes where he’s staying, and they kiss. (Even the stage description says “They kiss, and about time too.”)
KAYLEE
Oh,. Doctor, you and me is gonna
have such an awful lot of sex.
Bok, Zoe, Wash, and Jayne are talking about people in general and Jayne’s plan to go back and help Inara’s whore friends.
INARA
(sooo many times…)
Companions.
JAYNE
Uh-huh. Point is, we’re heroes
now. We faced down Reavers, the
mighty Alliance, and opened the
eyes of the world to injustice.
If that don’t get me some quinny
I swear I’m turning eunuch like
the Shepherd over here.
Book’s expression is memorable. Zoe puts her hand to her heart.
ZOE
That was beautiful.
WASH
(matching her mock
sentiment)
I have something in my eye…
Mals asks if he can go take her up. Wash agrees, after he determines that Mal remembers which way the sky is. Mal finds River in the copilot’s seat, the closing scene happens as we saw it. Credits roll.
I had — and have — some seriously mixed emotions about this script. I love the movie (you may have guessed) but some of the things that bothered me when I saw them on the screen — not as much character development as I’d like, the lack of Book, a rushed feeling, not to mention the deaths — aren’t in this one. The ending here is clearly a happy one, with no lingering bad things for the crew at all. It felt really good to read it, and hear it in my mind, the way it could have been, with a big and obvious future ahead for all of them.
But it wouldn’t have been Joss’ movie. Yeah, he wrote this, but he also worked on it over and over to bring out the elements he wanted. It’s not just that this movie woud have cost a lot more to film and run 3 hours and ten minutes. Joss wants his audience challenged, involved, changed. We know from his TV shows that beloved characters will die. Big things happen. Episodes rarely end with “everyone’s back to normal” like other shows do. And I have to admit, the last fifteen minutes of the movie when, jaded moviegoer that I am, I couldn’t bear to look away from the screen because I honestly didn’t know for sure that he wasn’t going to kill everybody. How often does that happen?
This would have made a really good Firefly movie. It wouldn’t have been Serenity.
There’s a lot of stuff here I really wish had made it to the screen. There’s a lot of stuff missing that I’m glad got added in. And, vague as that is, that’s my review.
Great review- I have to say I feel the same way; this is the movie I wanted but didn’t get.
That being said, the possibilities are endless on where to take the story next- but I feel a little mixed knowing Wash and Book won’t be there.
As someone else said, ‘at least we got to meet them.’
All the best,
Skip
“Zoe and Wash agree if they make it out, they’ll make babies. Lots of babies.”
This is the really heartbreaking part for me. I’m still hoping that Wash managed to give Zoe the baby she wanted before his unexpected death, but it’s pretty damned unlikely to happen…
Thank you so much for sharing this; I might have to get a copy of that script now. I have to say that while I do like Serenity, I would have preferred this version…only with some of the great funy little moments that were in the movie added. I realize and respect that the final version of the movie is the one Joss wanted; but simply as a viewer, it sounds like this version is closer to what I wanted. It sounds closer to the spirit of that little show called Firefly that I’m so deeply in love with.
I didn’t read it all…but I love the film. I’ve been trying to get those morons over at Whedonesque.com to realise that sequels to this movie could be made at a tv budget given the advancement in HD camera technology…Joss Whedon can film new footage on a tv show like scheduled…As many of you may know, the average hour long tv show episode actually takes 9 days to shoot. Without commercials, that’s about 42 to 45 minutes worth of footage. A 16 day shoot could give you 84 to 90 minutes of footage. That’s enough for one film…and according to most Firefly fans…even though they love the movie…Serenity, they loved certain episodes better.
Take for instance…the episode featuring Early, the Operative…or The Train Robbery episode. They both had budgets which averaged about 2.5 million
dollars each…Now, if one were to shoot 3 to 4 sequels at the same time, back to back…re-using the same sets, costumes, models, and computer fx programs…you could bring in three movies at the price of about 15 million dollars…and 4 for 20 million dollars. And if you filmed a production up in Canada…you’d make your money go alot further by about 1/3 of the budget
higher. Now, although the idiots at Whedonesque.com dismissed my post more than a month ago…somebody at the CBS Television Network must have read my writing…because of the following news story that hit all the trades. About 3 to 4 days ago CBS announced its intentions to produce and release theatrical films at a budget of 15 to 16 million dollars a piece…
no doubt using HD and shot in Canada…as I suggested.
I know the industry well, as I grew up in it…and I know budgeting, marketing, and film making because I’ve studied business and film. Trust me…if you think every so called high concept block buster worthy film has to cost 90 million or even 250 million dollars, you have been lied to…It’s called creative financing…Make something appear on the books like it cost more than it does, in order to rip-off investors and create media buzz!!! Just Look at Titanic…remember what they said about its budget?…Well, what they didn’t tell you is that…most of the money spent on the movie was used to build a studio in Mexico to shoot the movie…and by now dozens of other
films and tv productions. And in the near and long term future…hundreds of productions, and then thousands. Yet, the budget to build the Mexican studio was hidden within the budget of the film Titanic which actually cost 2/3 less than what you have been led to believe!!! In other words, the studio padded the movie’s budget in order to get the Mexican facility built for free. The cost should have been charged back to the studio
(in America), not the movie!!!
Joss, give us the Serenity sequels while the fandom is still alive. We need some more movies to keep the Browncoats fueled and alive. If you follow my budgeting ideas…and tv shooting schedules…you can later come back and add all the digital tweaking you want in post…including enhanced special effects…Think Lucas and his Star Wars Special Editions…The difference…he messed with classic films that had already been released…You can apply this same technology to shooting Serenity sequels back to back. All you need is
enough usable live action footage that give editors and effects people professional quality material to work with. Think of it as being similar to the animation process…Studios record the voice talent 1st…before working on the animation. You can do the same thing with live action footage. Capture the performances as best you can from the actors on HD cameras…and then amp it up via computers…ie…lighting exposures…virtual lenses via
editing suite effects…motion blur…color timing, enhancing on set
practical effects and second unit footage and stunts by way of CGI.
Joss I hope you get to read this…cause you can pull it off!!! Good luck!!!
Oh…and thanks to the creators of this website for the full length review of the original script of Serenity…I’d like to have a virtual copy of it on a future enhanced DVD release of Serenity. Thanks again…and thanks for letting me post!!!
-Signed, Blue Gloves
Wow. Thanks for taking the trouble to share this! It’s great to get a new glimpse into the ‘verse. And it’s great to know this version of the script existed.
We’ve all been through the “Joss’s art” discussion a hundred times, and of course he was entitled to make whatever movie fit his vision. But the version you described sounds like it would have been much closer in “feel” to what I imagined and hoped for during those long months when we were waiting for “the movie,” and would have found a warmer place in my heart then the one we saw.
Keep Flyin’
There is something here that leads me to think that this was not a genuine article (or rather, script):
It is the “stand down” moment after the Alliance points their wapons at the vicorious River and the beaten crew. The script used for filming cuts away to the funeral scene before the soldiers lower their weapons and before they are ordered by the Operative to stand down. This is in the script as publisched in the SERENITY Visual Companion. The changes (us seeing that the soldiers are orderd to stand down) were made after one of the producers (?) storngly (and rightly so) suggested it.
Now you tell us this scene is already in an earlier version of the script ? I think you have been had, man.
That is a movie I wish I’d seen. Even though sequels do not look imminent, how much better would they have been with EVERYBODY still there???
Actually, I didn’t say I’d rather have seen this. I find I prefer the actual movie. This would have made a really great Firefly movie, but it wouldn’t have been Serenity.
Re: validity of the script. It comes from a connected source, and frankly it reads too damn good to have been a fake. Possibly the scene was cut and then put back by demand? Also, it’s in the novelization, which was written based on one of the shooting scripts. Scripts go through many different versions from concept to screen, wouldn’t surprise me to see several variations.
Could it be fake? Sure, I can be fooled, although I’m convinced it’s real. But it was still worth reading even if it was only just really, really good fanfiction.
Interesting… but the lack of Book aside, what we got was a top-notch movie which I absolutely love, and I’m not sorry things changed between draft 1 to draft X.
Blue Gloves, you’ve got some great ideas there. That’s really interesting (and awesome!) news for filmmakers who don’t have big budgets. That said, I think Joss might just be moving on. I know he’s working on Wonder Woman, as well as Goners (a project that he has apparently had in the words for years). The bottom line for me is that if he wants to do sequels and revive the beauty of the ‘verse, I think that’s great. And if he doesn’t? That’s alright too. He gave us something amazing, some would say he single-handedly revived sci-fi, and if that’s all he had to give us in that department, we should be grateful.
It’s definitely a legitiment script – 100% certain. The eBay seller is somebody who worked on the movie.
I don’t wan to poop on Josh.
But I love this version better.
There seems to be more jokes.
The movie lacked major jokes/deadpan-ness. . .
AND nobody dies! Yay!
A teacher of mine would always say, “the saddest words of voice or pen is what could have been…” I think that every Browncoat feels this way at some point, but we are so blessed to have had anything beyond a cancellation. I like to think that we got are happy ending by getting a film, for better or worse, although I must say I think it was the better, truer, Jossier end product that really shows what the show was about, which is family and the potential good and evil that can result from the human race. We should all think like Kaylee and hope for more movies or shows. Just like the Serenity pilot when kaylee talks about picking up passengers on Persephone, “I like new people, the all have stories….:)” Let’s hope we get a few more passengers to board the Firefly/Serenity ship, and be happy that we got a movie, I know I am. Thanks for the read.
This script is a great one…I think I would have really liked it…and hopt to see more…much more. It is this kind of enthusiam that got me banned from Whedonesque.com. I was defending Joss Whedon from an attack on Buffy by the producer of Hex. At no time did I use hate speech or explictives. But when you speak your mind on Whedonesque.com…they ban you…with no explanations. Not one of their moderators defended Joss or his work on Buffy once…from the attacks of the aforementioned producer. Just check the archives, about a month and a half back…I speak the truth. Whedonesque.com has acted like the Alliance in that respect…crushing the flow of free thought and expression…just simply for the sake of doing it!!! They don’t understand Joss’ intentions regarding freedom of speech as outlined in Serenity and Firefly, the tv show that inspired the movie.
But regarding Early…as mentioned in my earlier post, see above, he was a real menace… threatening in tone…in a subtle way. There were no big effects in that episode…just a great story, and none of us missed anything. The effects didn’t matter, just like a good episode of the original Twilight Zone, it was about the characters. In a way, it felt like the first Alien movie…mostly all on set practical effects. Or the episode featuring The Train Robbery…New Serenity films can be shot like that, only using the bare essentials. It’s about the drama and character interactions, not how many ships you blow up…right?
Aren’t we all supposed to be on the same side in trying to get new Firefly/Serenity material out there…and more Joss Whedon works of other kinds to the small or big screens? So whats’ with all the naysayers at Whedonesque.com? If Joss’ work doesn’t keep on coming in the form I have suggested, at least in part, Whedonesque.com’s days are numbered and so are that of the Browncoats and Buffy fandom at large, etc. I for one don’t want to see that happen. I want Joss’s work and those dedicated to it to survive…and to receive the open acclaim it, and they deserve.
If you have anymore script drafts like this…please post them. I thank you greatly for your efforts in bringing it to the eyes of the people who truly appreciate it!!!
-Signed, Blue Gloves
You Can’t Stop The Signal!!!!!
Whatever battle is going on with Whedonesque, please keep it out of here. I’d rather focus on this script.
But I agree, I’d enjoy a toned-down version of Firefly or Serenity continuing. I’d even like to see an animated version. Most of the actors have done voicework, they’d do it. Effects would no longer be a problem, and as long as the art style wasn’t cheesy — there have been some great fan-created animated Firefly designs already — we’d happily accept it. Joss?
You know…in terms of animated series, I had contemplated re-cuting episodes of the series and even footage from the movie…and rotoscoping it, i.e., the recently released Keanu Reeves movie “Scanner Darkly” or the Euro 80’s pop group A-HA’s famous video “Take On Me”. With some clever editing and a equally clever voice cast over-dub of new dialogue in respect to the visuals, the results could prove very interesting. In terms of animation, this would be the least costly route to take.
I didn’t really SEE the television show when it was on. In my opinion, this gives me that “special” perspective. I didn’t go into the theater as a fan…I came out as one. I then proceeded to HUNT DOWN the DVDs. This stuff is brilliant! I can’t believe I missed it while it was on. As a struggling screenwriter myself, this solidifies my belief that great concepts can/do get overlooked by the public and “the powers that be”. They CAN miss opportunities to get involved in something great. I hope they are somewhere kicking themselves for what they are doing.
Regarding this script, I think the movie version pushed the envelope more. I was truly scared for the crew when Wash and Book bit the dust. This made for a more thrilling experience…and I hardly knew them.
Blue Gloves, I welcome any creative pursuit concerning this franchise. If possible, I would like to help. It would be a great opportunity to share knowledge.
From here, it’s all up to Joss Whedon…By now I am sure he has probably read these posts, or someone in his camp has, due to the subject of this leaked information regarding the early draft of his script for Serenity…If they are interested in hearing our ideas…they will make themselves available. Let’s hope so! I am currently in contact with a HD video crew…They do music videos for pretty cheap. When you add a film masking program to their material, it looks like 35 mm film…and I’m not joking. I think the program is called Magic Bullet…it’s used at all the major film festivals. I am perfectly confident that they can film a full length movie…They just need a workable budget.
Anyway…the web host of this site…can easily be queried by Mr. Whedon for our collective web addresses, if Whedon wishes to get our contact information. From here, the ball is in Joss’ court!!!
Everyone wishing for the “super mega happy ending” are really missing the boat. What made the finished film so great, so epic, was the sense that this really could be the end of the crew. The closing stand-off was clearly “The Dirty Dozen” inspired and the loss of Wash during that sequence really, for me at least, upped the ante.
It was all going along nice and formulaic. The heros over-coming the odds, blah blah blah, and then BAM Wash goes down, all bets are off and anything could happen.
As shocking as it was, it made the film what it was.
Well, as Joss said this would have been season 2! And that could have been an awesome 3 episode arc.
But as you said this was more of a firefly script. And as much as I miss Book and Wash. Their deaths brought more to tension of the movie, and the emotions.
If Joss had been guaranteed 3 movies, I would have loved this version. But since he knew you had to make the movie like it was the only movie, I am glad he made Serenity. This script also feels more like a tv show, which was one of the few complaints heard about Serenity (I didn’t agree, I thought it felt like a MOVIE). I don’t think the final battle would have had the same poignancy with everyone alive, especially the River/Simon My Turn speech.
But it was fun to read what might have been.
On the subject of HD film making. One thing that I didn’t discuss in my post is the technique of employing digital to film transfers in movie making. This is accomplished by matching video frame rates with film…and then transfering the digital imaging over to 35 mm film. This adds direct film masking to the visuals…Some digital film makers use both this technique as well as that of of digital film masking through the use of Magic Bullet…the film masking computer rendering program for digital productions. These techniques, used together, add to the final products appearance in terms of giving your digital video camera production the film look you desire. Note: Many film makers use a 35 mm film lense on their digital cameras to assist in forming the intended results. All Joss Whedon would need is a budget for set builders to erect sets…hire a practical effects team…stunt men costumers and of course pay the actors. The cost to shoot on some of the high end HD cameras is as low as 8,000 a day…for the camera operation alone, but you can buy a servicable HD camera for 5,000…and deliver professional results. And if I remember correctly, the first season of Buffy was shot on 16 mm film…and certainly, employing HD, using film masking tecniques is alot better than that in terms of over all quality. I apologize for any misspellings in this text, if any, but I have to go and don’t have time to vet my post for spelling errors.
Back!…Before I was so rudely interupted…I wanted to point out that with the rental or purchase of wharehouse space, which could be used to double as a sound stage…one can virtually set up their own production studio. Director Robert Rodriguez has done it in Texas…The Wayans Brothers are doing it in Oakland, California…and the creator of Babylon 5 did it in Southern California, just north of Los Angeles more than a decade ago. The latter of which, Joss Whedon shares a common employer with at Marvel Comics. Imagine what those two mavericks could whip up with their own low cost digital film studio. Anyway…my point is, with the new digital tech breakthroughs, Joss Whedon can easily finance low cost Serenity sequels himself!!!
According to Hollywood Reporter. com, Director James Cameron will be filming his next movie Avatar in HD 3-D…with live action to be shot over a month and a half. That’s the production schedule of about 6 hour long tv episodes shot back to back!!! This proves that my technical vision can be accomplished with professional results using HD cameras in a limited amount of time…more specifically, on a tv schedule. You may not believe me…but you’ll be forced to believe James Cameron!!!
Re: Wash’s death in the final version of “Serenity”. I am simply not willing to accept that in a fictional ‘verse. I look to fiction as entertainment. If I want unhappy endings, all I gotta do is wake up! In my mind, until a film or series continuation says different, the crew put Wash in River’s cryo-box to take him home for burial. Along the way, they got wind of an experimental medical process to record brain info to time of death and clone replacements for damaged body parts. They sneak Wash in in place of a politico who bumped a deserving recipient (ala PA’s goveror Casey who bumped everybody down the list for his transplant). Alliance bashing, witty dialog and some gunplay ensues. The Firefly ‘verse returns to normal.
Just my way of stealing happiness from the jaws of defeat.
Don’t care about Book?
Will miss Book but his death a better fit than Wash’s.
One: Books death was important to the storyline and character development because Book was the catalyst to Mal regaining a little bit of his “rudder”. Book’s casual murder by the Operative and his dying wish, nay, DEMAND that Mall “believe” again made Mal and crew confront River’s Miranda secret, rather than just run. Wash was sacrificed meaninglessly as a plot gimmick to create peril.
Two: Book was an individual who interacted with the crew but Wash was half of a married couple who as such made up an important ingredient of Firefly’s unique-ness. To destroy that couple as a plot device is a cheap shot at all those who reveled in a mature, married couple as part of the cast ensemble. Which ties into,
Three: Book is a more easily replaced character. If another character with deep-seated religious beliefs were to join Serenity, (not a Sheperd but perhaps a person who wouldn’t be stereotypically devout, say a blue-collar industrial worker who knows why he trusts in his Christian faith) the conscience-character would not replace Book but add to his legacy.
But if some “guy” just jumped into Zoe’s heart and bed, it would be creepy and an insult to both Wash and Zoe.
Four: Also, Book’s mysterious past could be explored in flashback, which would keep actor Ron Glass involved in the series without quite the level of sadness that showing widow Zoe’s dead husband would cause. Wash is the “funny” character and there is little funny about being reminded of his death.
I have a few other reasons but coming off night shift, I gotta get to bed!
Mike
Interesting how the unused version could’ve opened so many more insights into things we never learned about.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I enjoyed reading. There are some bits that I wish so much had been left in the film…Jayne signing the Oaty Bar song definitely tops the list. And Zoe’s little speech about Mal and the war. But overall the final version was definitely better, so much more Joss.
I’m also a big Mal/Inara shipper, and I am very pleased by the fact that this script included the fact that she hasn’t taken any clients since leaving, something that us fanfic writers have assumed again and again. But I do have one question: you mentioned the scene between them on Miranda, with the embrace. I know about the scene from the shooting script, but you said it’s in the deleted scenes. What deleted scenes are you talking about? It isn’t on the US dvd, which is a mystery to me because they definitely filmed the scene, I’ve heard it was included in some early screenings of the film. So I’m just wondering. Thanks!
Blue Gloves is pretty much on target with regards to budgeting. I used to work in the industry a looonnnng time ago. I have friends who still work in the business and they all know about padding.
I remember when it first began to become public was the money from ALIEN. The court that got the case was apalled at the Studios way of “budgeting” and ordered them to show him the real books. They balked and he awarded to the plaintiff who was sueing for non payment of tailend royalties.
The Studio that made ALIEN claimed after 10 years that it was still in the red and everyone who had agreed to be paid from the profits were just never going to see the money because it had LOST MONEY!
The judge damned near had them thrown in jail. It was hilarious and that was when the public got the news that movies had to make THREE times their cost. If it cost 50 million, it had to make 150 million before it went into the black.
Similarily, the same formula for 100, 200 hundred million etc.
Load of crock.
As for working out of a private studio it’s being done all the time. No having to pay studios for their place of biz.
I think Joss brought did a phenomenal job with his budget. First class production.
Right on target Blue Gloves.
Thank you…I know Joss is well aware of all of this…I hope he becomes a maverick in this regard and goes independant with more Serenity based films…although…for some reason, I’m starting to get the feeling that he’s getting tired of the self importance of the industry. Hollywood is out of control with arrogance and budgeting scams…ie, 300 million for Superman Returns which I could have shot for 60 million dollars, of course that would be a conservative estimate…using practical effects, go motion, cloud machines and other none computer related effects techniques, in addition to state of the art CGI work. James Cameron always warned film makers…”Why build an entire film set costing millions, which will only appear on screen for 30 secs to 5 minutes? You only need to build what is necessary to tell the story” Let’s look at Superman Returns and the Kryptonite Continent scenes, or The Fortress Of Solitude scenes from the movie. They could have all been shot completely against green screen…Later, miniature sets shot with a motion control camera could have been digitally matted in…thus saving the production millions of dollars. Add in CGI enhancements and lighting effects and you’ve got a convincing set. But I digress…back to Joss Whedon…As for his efforts of late, I have no inside information but, it just seems like Joss isn’t taken with the business anymore. This isn’t a business for good or sensitive people at heart…and I think, like myself, he is one of them. I have this strange feeling that he could easily retire rather than let himself be further subjected to this mess called Hollywood!!!
Ahhh, now this felt like Firefly. And it left me with a deep satisfaction and tears in my eyes for what might have been.
I love Serenity just the way it is…. but I would have loved this movie more.
If that makes me a silly for wanting happy endings then so be it. I miss Wash and Book terribly.
I yearned for the moments, the little moments that were on Firefly…. and this script has some of them.
Thank you for giving us this gift and sharing with us. I appreciate it very much.
But it’s also true that the script is out and someone is profiting from it. Personally, I’d rather see a published version with notes and stories.
I have to say, I’m surprised that this script, given how much time has passed since it was being sold, didn’t find its way into the hands of someone who figured they’d just scan it and put it online.
(Which is not to register an opinion on whether or not that’s okay. I’m just surprised it doesn’t appear to have happened.)
One must appreciate the effort you put in exploring this script and sharing with others.
That’s exactly it – this would have been a huge, expensive version of Firefly. And a damn good one.
There’s a new Babylon 5 feature coming soon that’s movie length that took 9 days to film, though the cast is miniature, compared
The Joss Whedon script for the 190 minute long movie (190 pages, 10.1 megabyte facsimile) is at
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/8/25/1380756/fireflymovie.pdf
Thank you SO much, two! This thing is incredibly hard to find!
The screenplay is also available at
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/8/13/2048723/Serenity-190pages.pdf
It is easier on the eyes because none of the pages are out of focus or slanted. It was made with optical recognition software from the xerox.
Thanks. This is incredible. This is the movie I wanted to see. No deaths among my favourite crew and, at the same time, somehow more serious than the movie.
Ah, I wish for an alternative world where we all gotten three series of Firefly.
Browncoat forever,
Barts
A second place to download the screenplay Serenity-190pages.pdf is at http://www.mediafire.com/two
Joss cut too deeply. Killing Wash was like he killed Xander. Yes, the audience got upset, no that doesn’t mean it was right, because they would have gotten just as upset if he got rid of Xander or Willow. It was the wrong choice, but it wasn’t Joss’s artistic intention to have Wash or Book die, it was because Alan Tudyk and Ron Glass didn’t want to sign on for three movies. That posed a problem for getting the film made, so Joss had to think of a solution… and this was it: Kill them off.
Joss has revealed this several times in public.
Don’t get too angry with Alan or Ron, though. They were only doing what they thought was best. It’s a shame, but there you go.
If Fox hadn’t cancelled the show in the first place, we wouldn’t have ever been in this mess.
Can someone tell me where I can read this script please?!
Thanks Two for the link! I’ve been looking for the 190 pages scripts for a little while. For anyone else looking to download and read the script : most of the links here aren’t working anymore, but the last one posted by Two works.
I’m copying it here : http://www.mediafire.com/two
And thanks again!