New Whedon movie!

[BlackFlagg]

Whedon's a 'Goner' for U

Universal pacts with 'Buffy' man for spec script

 

By MICHAEL FLEMING

 

Universal Pictures has paid seven figures for "Goners," a fantasy thriller spec scriptspec script Joss WhedonJoss Whedon wrote and will direct.

 

Film will be produced by Mary ParentMary Parent and Scott StuberScott Stuber. The studio premiered Whedon's directorial debut, "Serenity," on Thursday night at Universal City Walk. Pic opens Sept. 30.

 

Whedon was cryptic in describing the project, but the title conveys that it will tread on supernatural turf comparable to his series creations "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the bloodsucker spinoff "Angel."

 

"It's the story of a young woman's journey that involves a great deal of horror and some heroics," he said. "It's certainly darker than 'Serenity,' and there are a lot of left turns along the way. It is something I had in mind for a while, and it just poured out of me when I finished my film."

 

Timing isn't clear, since Whedon is writing to direct "Wonder Woman," the Warner Bros. film based on the DC ComicsDC Comics heroine. That may take some time, as Whedon started his script from scratch.

 

"I was given license to purely make it my own and yet she is already an iconic Amazon princess," Whedon said. " 'Goners' has some similarities, but the heroines could not be more different, and the story is a bit more intimate and less complicated than 'Wonder Woman.' "

 

Whedon, who began his career writing features "Speed" and "Toy Story," shuttered his TV operation this year to focus on features. He will continue to spend the majority of his time with bigscreen fare but acknowledged he has been toying with a TV project that would continue the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" universe, focusing on Spike, the punk-haired vampire played by James Marsters.

 

Whedon's challenge is to figure a way to do it and be able to keep directing movies.

 

"Directing a film was as exciting and daunting as it was supposed to be," said the CAA-repped Whedon. "I learned a lot on 'Serenity' and hope I hid that from the audience."

 

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111792955...36&cs=1&s=h&p=0

 

Hi guys. Just one word to y'all about this: They got the title wrong. It's "GONERS". Like, y'know, plural.

 

More I will not say.

 

Yet...

 

joss | September 23, 18:16 CET

 

http://whedonesque.com/comments/8025#85587

 

Looking forward to hearing more about this

[Mole]

Wow, Universal is really betting on Serenity doing well.

[2GOLD]

Needs a title change badly.

"GONERS" is beyond horrible.

 

Right up there with "Ghost Whisperer"

[SuperJerk]

Wow, Universal is really betting on Serenity doing well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Given how Warner Brothers handed him Wonder Woman, I'm not surprised.

[Anakin Flair]

Wow, Universal is really betting on Serenity doing well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Given how Warner Brothers handed him Wonder Woman, I'm not surprised.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Plus, they have been blown away at the response to the test screenings of Serenity.

[SuperJerk]

Were these the test screenings they advertised, or did Universal do its own focus groups?

 

The ones they advertised were filled with biased fan boys (no offense, since I'm one as well).

[Guest JMA]

I really wish I had watched all of Firefly. I'll be going in a little blind when I see Serenity.

[algrim]

I really wish I had watched all of Firefly. I'll be going in a little blind when I see Serenity.

 

You won't be the only one. I only saw like 3 episodes.

[SuperJerk]

I really wish I had watched all of Firefly. I'll be going in a little blind when I see Serenity.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

SCI-FI Channel has a marathon on Tuesday.

[Guest JMA]

I really wish I had watched all of Firefly. I'll be going in a little blind when I see Serenity.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

SCI-FI Channel has a marathon on Tuesday.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the info. I'll make sure to watch.

 

Do you know what time it starts?

[Mole]

Umm, what is going on with this movie? They waiting until WW is done?

[starvenger]

Umm, what is going on with this movie? They waiting until WW is done?

Since this is Warner and their DC properties we're talking about, that could be a day short of forever...

[randomguy]

Maybe they read their numbers on Serenity.

[Jingus]

For all the internet hype, Serenity actually lost money during its theatrical run. It had a budget of 40 million, but only took in 25 million in domestic gross. It probably made the rest of its money back in foreign and DVD income, but still, it wasn't a hit.

[Mole]

For all the internet hype, Serenity actually lost money during its theatrical run. It had a budget of 40 million, but only took in 25 million in domestic gross. It probably made the rest of its money back in foreign and DVD income, but still, it wasn't a hit.

And there was $10 million in marketing, so it was around $49 million all together. (Joss made it for $39 million)

 

It made $38 million worldwide, but the DVD sales are pretty good. It sold $2 million copies as of Jan 31, (at the retail price of $20.00 will say, that is $40 million) and $9 million in rentals.

 

Sooo it grossed $87 million all together making $39 million. I don't think that is enough for a sequel or another Joss movie. I think I answered my own question.

[2GOLD]

The fate of his other movie is probably hanging on how well Wonder Woman does. If he ever gets the thing into production. It's pretty sad when the best rumors of Wonder Woman have turned out to be April Fool's Jokes.