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''Serenity'' is a 2005 American
space Western Space Western is a subgenre of science fiction that uses the themes and tropes of Western (genre), Westerns within science-fiction stories in an outer space setting. Subtle influences may include Deep space exploration, exploration of new, law ...
film written and directed by
Joss Whedon Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon ( ; born June 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. He is best known as the creator of several television series: the supernatural drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ...
in his feature
directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...
. The film is a continuation of Whedon's short-lived 2002
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
television series ''
Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
'' and stars the same cast, taking place after the events of the final episode. Set in 2517, ''Serenity'' is the story of the crew of '' Serenity'', a "''Firefly''-class" spaceship. The captain and first mate are veterans of the Unification War, having fought on the losing Independent side against the
Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...
. Their lives of smuggling and cargo-running are interrupted by a
psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...
passenger who harbors a dangerous secret. The film stars
Nathan Fillion Nathan Christopher Fillion (born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian and American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on ''Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on ''Castle''. , he sta ...
,
Alan Tudyk Alan Wray Tudyk ( ; born March 16, 1971) is an American actor. His film work includes roles in '' 28 Days'' (2000), '' A Knight's Tale'' (2001), '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'' (2004), voice and motion capture for Sonny in '' I, Robot'' (2 ...
,
Adam Baldwin Adam Baldwin (born February 27, 1962) is an American actor. He made his film debut in '' My Bodyguard'' (1980). He later appeared in ''Full Metal Jacket'' (1987) as Animal Mother, and in the television series ''Firefly'' and its continuation f ...
,
Summer Glau Summer Glau (; born July 24, 1981) is an American actress best known for her roles in science fiction and fantasy television series: as River Tam in '' Firefly'' (2002) and its continuation film '' Serenity'' (2005), as Tess Doerner in '' The ...
and
Chiwetel Ejiofor Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor ( ; born 10 July 1977) is a British actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a Laurence Olivier Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emm ...
. ''Serenity'' was released in North America on September 30, 2005, by
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
to generally positive reviews and several accolades, including the
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation is given each year for theatrical films, television episodes, or other dramatized works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. Originally the award covered both ...
, the Prometheus Special Award and the
Nebula Award for Best Script The Nebula Award for Best Script was given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy scripts for movies or television episodes. Awards are also given out for published literary works i ...
, but underperformed at the box office.


Plot

In the 26th century, humanity has colonized a new solar system. The central planets formed the
Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...
and won a war against the outer planet Independents who resisted joining the Alliance. Child genius
River Tam River Tam is a fictional character from the ''Firefly'' franchise. River is portrayed by Summer Glau in the 2002 TV series ''Firefly'' and the 2005 film '' Serenity''. In 2005, Glau won the '' SFX'' magazine award for Best Actress for her role ...
is conditioned by Alliance scientists into becoming a psychic and an assassin but is rescued as a teenager by her brother Dr. Simon Tam. During her training, River inadvertently read the minds of several top government officials and learned their secrets. Consequently, an Alliance agent known only as the Operative is tasked with recapturing her. The siblings have found refuge aboard the transport spaceship '' Serenity'' with Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds, first mate
Zoe Washburne This page lists characters from the television series ''Firefly''. Major characters Malcolm Reynolds Malcolm Reynolds ("Mal"), played by Nathan Fillion, is owner and captain of the Firefly-class spaceship ''Serenity'', and was a volunteer in th ...
, her husband, pilot Hoban "Wash" Washburne, mercenary
Jayne Cobb This page lists characters from the television series ''Firefly''. Major characters Malcolm Reynolds Malcolm Reynolds ("Mal"), played by Nathan Fillion, is owner and captain of the Firefly-class spaceship ''Serenity'', and was a volunteer in th ...
, and mechanic
Kaylee Frye This page lists characters from the television series ''Firefly''. Major characters Malcolm Reynolds Malcolm Reynolds ("Mal"), played by Nathan Fillion, is owner and captain of the Firefly-class spaceship ''Serenity'', and was a volunteer in t ...
. Despite Simon's objections, Mal brings River on a bank robbery. River warns them that savage and cannibalistic Reavers are coming. They escape, but Simon decides he and River will leave ''Serenity'' at the next port. Once there, however, a
subliminal message Subliminal stimuli (; ' literally "below" or "less than") are any sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold or limit for conscious perception, in contrast to stimuli (above threshold). Visual stimuli may be quickly flashed before an indiv ...
in a television commercial causes River to attack numerous bar patrons, and Mal takes the siblings back aboard the ship. The crew contacts reclusive
hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who achieves goals and solves problems by non-standard means. The term has become associated in popular culture with a security hackersomeone with knowledge of bug (computing), bugs or exp ...
Mr. Universe, who discovers the message designed to trigger River's mental conditioning. He notes River whispered "Miranda" before attacking and warns that someone else has viewed the footage. Mal receives an invitation from
courtesan A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person. History In European feudal society, the co ...
Inara Serra This page lists characters from the television program, television series ''Firefly (TV series), Firefly''. Major characters Malcolm Reynolds Malcolm Reynolds ("Mal"), played by Nathan Fillion, is owner and captain of the Firefly-class spaceshi ...
. Realising it is a trap, Mal goes to confront the Operative who promises to let him go free if he hands over River. Mal barely escapes. Miranda is discovered to be a planet located beyond a region of space swarming with Reavers. The crew flies to the planet Haven but find it devastated and their old friend
Shepherd Book Derrial Book (commonly called Shepherd Book and born as Henry Evans) is a fictional character played by Ron Glass in the science-fiction/Western television series ''Firefly'' and its sequel movie, '' Serenity''. He is a Shepherd (the literal Eng ...
mortally wounded. They realize the Operative has killed anyone who gave them safe harbor and will continue until he gets River. Mal has the crew disguise ''Serenity'' as a Reaver ship and they travel to Miranda undetected. They find its 30 million colonists dead, and a recording that explains an experimental chemical to suppress aggression had been added into Miranda's atmosphere. The population became so docile they stopped performing all
activities of daily living Activities of daily living (ADLs) is a term used in healthcare to refer to an individual's daily self-care activities. Health professionals often use a person's ability or inability to perform ADLs as a measure of their Performance status, functi ...
and placidly died. A small proportion of them had the opposite reaction and became insanely aggressive and violent. The Alliance's actions created the Reavers and this was the secret in River's subconscious. Mr. Universe agrees to broadcast the recording, but has secretly betrayed the crew to the Alliance. However, rather than pay him, the Operative kills him and prepares an
ambush An ambush is a surprise attack carried out by people lying in wait in a concealed position. The concealed position itself or the concealed person(s) may also be called an "". Ambushes as a basic military tactics, fighting tactic of soldi ...
. Knowing this, the crew provoke the Reaver fleet into chasing them toward the Alliance armada. The Reavers and Alliance battle while Wash pilots ''Serenity'' through the crossfire. He crash lands near the broadcast tower before being fatally impaled by a Reaver spear. The crew make a
last stand A last stand, or final stand, is a military situation in which a body of troops holds a defensive position in the face of overwhelming and virtually insurmountable odds. Troops may make a last stand due to a sense of duty; because they are d ...
against the Reavers to buy Mal time to broadcast the recording. The crew retreats behind a set of blast doors that fail to properly close. Simon is shot, and River dives through the doors to throw back Simon's medical kit and close the doors before the Reavers drag her away. At the transmitter, Mal fights the Operative, finally subduing him and forcing him to watch as the recording is broadcast. Mal returns to the crew. The blast doors open to reveal that River has killed all the Reavers. The Operative orders the Alliance troops to stand down. The Operative provides medical aid and resources to repair ''Serenity.'' He tells Mal the broadcast has weakened the Alliance government, but while he will try to convince the Parliament that River and Simon are no longer threats, he warns that they may continue their pursuit in retribution for getting the word out. ''Serenity'' takes off, with River as Mal's new pilot.


Cast


Production


Development

The film is based on ''
Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
'', a television series canceled by the
Fox Broadcasting Company Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an Television in the United States, American commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast television broadcaster, television network serving as the flagship proper ...
in December 2002, after 11 of its 14 produced episodes had aired. Attempts to have other networks acquire the series failed, and creator
Joss Whedon Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon ( ; born June 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. He is best known as the creator of several television series: the supernatural drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ...
started to sell it as a film. He had been working on a film script since the show's cancellation. Shortly after the cancellation, he contacted
Barry Mendel Barry Mendel (born 1963) is an American film producer. Mendel first produced Wes Anderson’s '' Rushmore'' starring Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray, which won two Film Independent Spirit Awards for Best Director and Best Supporting Actor. ...
, who was working with
Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...
, and "flat-out asked him" for a way to continue the series as a film, including as a low-budget television film. Mendel introduced Whedon to then Universal executive
Mary Parent Mary Parent (born 1968) is an American film producer, and former studio executive. Early life and education A native of Santa Barbara, California, Parent studied business at the University of Southern California before launching a modestly suc ...
. She had seen ''Firefly'' and immediately signed on to the project, even though Whedon had yet to create a story. Whedon remarked: In July 2003, Whedon said that though there was interest in the project, "I won't know really until I finish a draft whether or not it's genuine." He felt that any film deal was contingent on keeping the show's original cast, though he later stated that retaining the cast was "never an issue" as Universal executives believed the cast suitable after watching every episode of the series. In early September 2004, a film deal with Universal was publicly confirmed. Universal acquired the rights to ''Firefly'' shortly before the confirmation. Whedon felt that the strong sales of the ''Firefly'' DVD, which sold out in less than 24 hours after the pre-order announcement, "definitely helped light a fire and make them niversalgo, 'Okay, we've really got something here.' It definitely helped them just be comfortable with the decisions they were making, but they really had been supporting us for quite some time already." Whedon felt it was "important people understand that the movie isn't the series", and so the project was titled ''Serenity''.


Writing

After Universal acquired the film rights from Fox, Whedon began writing the screenplay. His task was to explain the premise of a television series that few had seen without boring new viewers or longtime fans. He based his story on original story ideas for ''Firefly''s un-filmed second season.''Serenity'' Collector's Edition DVD cast commentary Whedon's original script was 190 pages, and attempted to address all major plot points introduced in the series. After presenting the script to
Barry Mendel Barry Mendel (born 1963) is an American film producer. Mendel first produced Wes Anderson’s '' Rushmore'' starring Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray, which won two Film Independent Spirit Awards for Best Director and Best Supporting Actor. ...
under the title "The Kitchen Sink", Whedon and Mendel collaborated on cutting down the script to a size film-able under his budget constraints. All nine principal cast members from the television series were scheduled to return for the movie, but Glass and Tudyk could not commit to sequels, leading to the death of their characters in the second draft of the script. The tightened script and a budget Mendel and Whedon prepared were submitted to Universal on a Friday and on the following Monday morning,
Stacey Snider Stacey Snider (born April 29, 1961) is an American film industry executive. She previously served as Chairman and CEO of 20th Century Fox before its acquisition by The Walt Disney Company. Biography Snider was born to a Jewish family. From 1999 ...
, then head of Universal, called Mendel to officially greenlight the movie. Universal planned to begin shooting in October 2003, but delays in finishing the script postponed the start of shooting to June 2004.


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
for ''Serenity'' was originally estimated to require 80 days, lasting a typical 12 to 14 hours each, with a budget of over $100 million. Unwilling to approve of such a large budget, Universal Studios wished to shoot abroad to minimize production costs. However, Whedon, reluctant to uproot his family, insisted that filming take place locally and maintained that it was possible for a local production to cost fewer days and less than half the expected budget. On March 2, 2004, the film was
greenlit In the context of the film and television industries, to greenlight is to give permission to proceed with a project. It specifically refers to formally approving its production finance and committing to this financing, thereby allowing the project ...
for production with a budget of under $40 million. At the project's completion, the film spent $39 million, considered low for a science fiction action film featuring heavy special effects. ''Serenity'' was filmed over a period of 50 ten-hour days, beginning June 3, 2004, and ending September 17, 2004. The film was primarily shot on Universal Studio
sound stage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a large, soundproof structure, building or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or te ...
s with locations throughout Los Angeles. The sequence where the crew is pursued by Reavers after a bank robbery was filmed along the Templin Highway north of
Santa Clarita Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-most populous city in Los Angeles County, the 17th-most populo ...
. The shoot typically would have lasted 30 days, but the production completed filming the sequence in five days.
Pyrotechnics Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating fireworks, but also includes safety matches, oxygen candles, Pyrotechnic fastener, explosive bolts (and other fasteners), parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, q ...
were shot at Mystery Mesa, near Santa Clarita, over a period of three days rather than a typical two weeks. The scenes on the planet Miranda were filmed at
Diamond Ranch High School Diamond Ranch High School (or DRHS) is a high school that serves students from Diamond Bar and Phillips Ranch, California, United States, and is operated by the Pomona Unified School District (PUSD) in Pomona, Californiapart of the Greater Los An ...
in Pomona. The production expected to save money by reusing the ''Serenity'' ship interior set from the ''Firefly'' television series, but the set was not available. Instead the ship was rebuilt, using DVD images of the television series as a guide. Construction was completed over 14 weeks on Universal Studios' Stage 12 by 23 supervised crews working independently but in coordination with one another. Universal was concerned about the extra cost but were satisfied when it was completed in just 14 weeks, according to executive producer David Lester.


Visual effects

As the budget for the film was considerably smaller than for the TV series, practical special effects were used as much as possible: if a computer-generated imagery (CGI) composite was required, as many tangible sets and props as possible were constructed to minimize the use of computer effects.Whedon, ''Serenity: Director's Commentary'', "What's In A Firefly" The most technically challenging scene was the mule skiff chase. For budgetary reasons, a
gimbal A gimbal is a pivoted support that permits rotation of an object about an axis. A set of three gimbals, one mounted on the other with orthogonal pivot axes, may be used to allow an object mounted on the innermost gimbal to remain independent of ...
and CGI, much like those used in the pod race in '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'', were quickly ruled out. Instead, the crew fashioned a trailer with a cantilevered arm attached to the "hovercraft" and shot the scene while riding up Templin Highway north of Santa Clarita.
Zoic Studios Zoic Studios is an American visual effects company based in Culver City, California, specializing in visual effects for feature films, episodic television, commercials, video games, advertising design, and interactive online media, the company ...
, the company that produced the graphics for the series, had to perform a complete overhaul of their computer model of ''Serenity'', as the television model would not stand up to the high-definition scrutiny of cinema screens.


Musical score

In pre-production memos, Whedon described his vision for the score as "spare, intimate, mournful and indefatigable". Just as the landscape and speech drew from elements of the
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
, he wished the same of the musical style and instrumentation. However, he did not want to step too far into Western clichés to "cause justified derision" and hoped the score would also draw from
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
and other Asian musical elements. He wanted the musical elements "mixed up, hidden, or it's as much a cliché as the western feel. We don't want to be too specific about culture or time. We want to be comfortable enough with the sounds not to let them take us out of the story, but not so comfortable that we begin to be told where the story is." Music was to draw heavily on what could be carried, and he highlighted four instruments: voice, percussion, woodwind, strings particularly guitar. He cautioned against vocal orchestration, believing there to be only two voices in Hollywood and wishing to avoid both, and advised moderation in woodwind, feeling wind instruments to be "either too airy or too sophisticated". Universal Studios wanted a composer with experience scoring films, ruling out ''Firefly'' composer
Greg Edmonson Greg Edmonson is an American music composer for television and movies. He is primarily known for composing the soundtrack to the television series ''Firefly''. He is also the composer for the first three games in the ''Uncharted'' video game se ...
. Whedon first thought of
Carter Burwell Carter Benedict Burwell (born November 18, 1954) is an American film composer. He has frequently collaborated with the Coen brothers, having scored most of their films. He has also scored films by other directors such as Bill Condon, Todd Haynes ...
, of whom Whedon was a huge fan. However, Whedon later felt that Burwell was not the right choice because as the film changed, the needs of the score changed as well. Burwell found working on the project difficult as it required he work "opposite" to his usual approach. The production would have continued with Burwell, but his other obligations left him little time to compose an entirely new score for ''Serenity''. Burwell was dropped from the project a few weeks before the scheduled February 2005 recording. David Newman was recommended by Universal's music executives when Whedon requested a composer capable of "everything" and "quickly". Whedon's instructions to Newman for the ship ''Serenity'' theme was something homemade and mournful, evoking the idea of pioneers who had only what they could carry. Whedon wished the theme to let viewers know they were now home. River Tam's theme was played on a uniquely shaped, square, antique piano that was slightly out of tune. The piano reminded Newman of River and composed a "haunting, haunted, vaguely eastern and achingly unresolved" theme that Whedon felt proved Newman's understanding of the film's musical needs. The score was performed by the
Hollywood Studio Symphony The Hollywood Studio Symphony (sometimes the Hollywood Freelance Studio Symphony) is the credited name of the symphony orchestra behind many major soundtracks, including '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', ''Suc ...
under Newman's direction. The official soundtrack was released September 27, 2005.


Release

''Serenity'' had its world premiere at the
Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...
on August 22, 2005. The premiere sold out, and the festival arranged for two more screenings on August 24, which sold out in twenty-four hours, and in the "Best of the Fest" line-up on August 28. The film was theatrically released September 30, 2005. ''Serenity'' was originally released on traditional
film print A release print is a copy of a film that is provided to a movie theater for exhibition. Definitions Release prints are not to be confused with other types of prints used in the photochemical post-production process: * Rush prints, or dailies, ...
s. Because the original 2K
digital intermediate Digital intermediate (DI) is a motion picture finishing process which classically involves digitizing a motion picture and manipulating the color and other image characteristics. Definition and overview A digital intermediate often replaces or a ...
scans were readily available, the film was chosen by Universal Pictures to test conversion to a Digital Cinema Distribution Master of the film and to "test the workflow required to create a ." ''Serenity'' became the first film to fully conform to
Digital Cinema Initiatives Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) is a consortium of major motion picture studios, formed to establish specifications for a common systems architecture for digital cinema systems. The organization was formed in March 2002 by Metro-Goldwyn- ...
specifications, marking "a major milestone in the move toward all-digital projection".


Marketing

In April 2005, Universal launched a three-stage
grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...
marketing campaign. A
rough cut In filmmaking, the rough cut (also known as the first cut or editor's cut) is the second of three stages of offline editing. The term originates from the early days of filmmaking when film stock was physically cut and reassembled, but is still ...
of the film was previewed in a total of thirty-five North American cities where the ''Firefly'' television series received the highest
Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
. The screenings did not bear the name of the film and relied on
word-of-mouth Word of mouth is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others a ...
within the fanbase for promotion. All screenings sold out in less than twenty-four hours, sometimes in as quickly as five minutes. The first screening was held May 5, 2005, in ten cities. The second screening on May 26 increased the number of cities to twenty. In the twenty-four hours following the announcement of the second screening, the ''Firefly'' fanbase launched trial and error efforts to uncover the theaters holding the screenings, leading the event to be sold out before the official listing was released. The third screening on June 23 was held in thirty-five cities. A final screening was held at
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...
, followed by a panel with Whedon and the cast.


Session 416

Session 416, also known as the R. Tam Sessions, are a series of five short videos anonymously released by Whedon through various websites and message boards as
viral marketing Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way th ...
. The first video, bearing the title card "R. Tam, Session 416, Second Excerpt", was released on the iFilm website on August 16, 2005. By September 7, 2005, all five videos had been released. The series grew out of Universal executives' request that Whedon supply content for an online viral marketing campaign (though a representative from Universal Studios denied knowledge of the videos' origin). He decided to explore events before the film and the television series. The clips were filmed with a "tiny" crew in a single day and are shot in grainy, low quality, black-and-white. They were later included on the Collector's Edition DVD. The videos, sequenced out of chronological order, depict excerpts of counseling sessions between River Tam, played by Summer Glau, and her unnamed therapist, played by Whedon, while she is held at the Alliance Academy. They follow her change from shy and sweet child prodigy to the mentally unstable girl of the television series.


Home media

''Serenity'' was released on Region 1 DVD, VHS and UMD on December 20, 2005. The DVD ranked #3 in sales for the week ending December 25, 2005. Bonus features on the DVD version include audio commentary from Whedon; deleted scenes and outtakes; a short introduction by Whedon for advance screenings; a hidden featurette on the creation of the Fruity Oaty Bar commercial; and three featurettes on the ''Firefly'' and ''Serenity'' universe, special effects, and the revival of the television series to film. Region 2 releases included an additional making-of featurette, and Region 4 releases included additional extended scenes, a tour of the set, a feature on cinematographer Jack Green, and a question-and-answer session with Whedon filmed after an advance screening in Australia. ''Serenity'' was released on
HD DVD HD DVD (short for High Density Digital Versatile Disc) is an obsolete high-density optical disc format for storing data and playback of high-definition video.
on April 18, 2006, the first Universal Studios film released on the format. In January 2007, it became the first full-resolution rip of an HD DVD release uploaded to the
BitTorrent BitTorrent is a Protocol (computing), communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P), which enables users to distribute data and electronic files over the Internet in a Decentralised system, decentralized manner. The protocol is d ...
network after its title key was ripped from a software player and released online. A 2-disc Collector's Edition DVD was released for Region 1 on August 21, 2007. It included the special features on the Region 4 disc, except the question-and-answer session; Session 416, a documentary on the film; and a second commentary with Whedon and actors Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau, and Ron Glass. The film was released on
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
on December 30, 2008, adding to the special features a video version of the cast commentary, picture-in-picture visual commentary, two databases of in-universe material, and a digital tour of ''Serenity''. Serenity was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray on October 17, 2017.


Reception


Box office

Despite high anticipation, ''Serenity'' performed poorly at the box office. Although several
pundits A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...
predicted a #1 opening, the film opened at #2 in the United States, taking in $10.1 million on its first weekend, spending two weeks in the top ten, and closed on November 17, 2005 with a domestic box office gross of $25.5 million. Movie industry analyst Brandon Gray described ''Serenity''s box office performance as "like a below average genre picture". ''Serenity''s international box office results were mixed, with strong openings in the UK, Portugal and Russia, but poor results in Spain, Australia, France and Italy.
United International Pictures United International Pictures (UIP) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures that distributes their films outside the United States and Canada. UIP also had international distribution rights to certain Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M ...
canceled the film's theatrical release in at least seven countries, planning to release it directly to DVD instead. The box office income outside the United States was $14.9 million, with a worldwide total of $40.4 million.


Critical reception

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film has an approval rating of 82% based on 187 reviews, with an average rating of 7.15/10. The site's critical consensus states: "Snappy dialogue and goofy characters make this Wild Wild West soap opera in space fun and adventurous." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
the film has a
weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
score of 74 out of 100, based on reviews from 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Ebert and Roeper ''At the Movies'' (originally ''Siskel & Ebert & the Movies'', and later ''At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper'') is an American movie review television program produced by Disney–ABC Domestic Television in which two film critics share thei ...
gave the film a "Two Thumbs Up" rating.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
, in his review for the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'', gave the film three out of four stars, commenting that it is "made of dubious but energetic special effects, breathless velocity, much imagination, some sly verbal wit and a little political satire". "The movie plays like a critique of contemporary society", he observed, also stating that in this way it was like ''
Brave New World ''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931, and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hier ...
'' and ''
Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...
''. Peter Hartlaub in the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' called it "a triumph", comparing its writing to the best ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
'' episodes.
Manohla Dargis Manohla June Dargis ( ) is an American film critic. She is the chief film critic for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Career Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', Dargis ...
of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' described it as a modest but superior science fiction film. Science fiction author
Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. , he is the only person to have won a Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award in List of joint ...
called ''Serenity'' "the best science fiction film ever", further stating "If ''
Ender's Game ''Ender's Game'' is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they ...
'' can't be this kind of movie, and this good a movie, then I want it never to be made. I'd rather just watch ''Serenity'' again." ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' film critic Claudia Puig wrote that "the characters are generally uninteresting and one-dimensional, and the futuristic Western-style plot grows tedious". Derek Elley of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' declared that the film "bounces around to sometimes memorable effect but rarely soars".


Awards

''Serenity'' won several awards after its release. It won the
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation is given each year for theatrical films, television episodes, or other dramatized works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. Originally the award covered both ...
—Long Form, the
Nebula Award for Best Script The Nebula Award for Best Script was given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy scripts for movies or television episodes. Awards are also given out for published literary works i ...
, and the Prometheus Special Award. The film was also named film of the year by '' Film 2005'' and FilmFocus, and it was determined by '' SFX'' magazine to be the best science fiction movie of all time in 2007.
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
Film awarded ''Serenity'' Best Sci-Fi, Best Story, and Best Trailer for the year, and it won second for Overall Best Movie after ''
Batman Begins ''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne (Dark Knight trilogy), Bruce Wayne / B ...
''. The SyFy Genre Awards awarded it runner-up in the categories for Best Movie, Best Actor in a film (Nathan Fillion), and Best Actress in a film (Summer Glau), losing in all categories to ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''. ''Serenity'' later ranked 383 on ''Empire'' magazine's 500 Greatest Films of All Time and 90 of the 301 Greatest Movies of All Time as voted by the magazine's readers.


Cultural impact

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
Steven Swanson Steven Roy Swanson (born December 3, 1960, in Syracuse, New York) is an American engineer and retired NASA astronaut. Swanson has flown two shuttle flights, STS-117 and STS-119, and one Soyuz flight, TMA-12M. All of the flights were to the Int ...
, an ardent fan of the series, took the Region 1 ''Firefly'' and ''Serenity'' DVDs with him on
Space Shuttle Atlantis Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' (Orbiter Vehicle designation: OV‑104) is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle which belongs to NASA, the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. ''Atlantis'' was manufactured by the Rockw ...
'
STS-117 STS-117 (ISS assembly sequence, ISS assembly flight 13A) was a Space Shuttle mission flown by Space Shuttle Atlantis, Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'', launched from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39, pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center on June ...
mission, which lifted off on Friday June 8, 2007, to be added to the ISS entertainment library. On February 20, 2009, NASA announced an online poll to name
Node 3 ''Tranquility'', also known as Node 3, is a module of the International Space Station (ISS). It contains environmental control systems, life support systems, a toilet, exercise equipment, and an observation Cupola (ISS module), cupola. The Eu ...
of the ISS; NASA-suggested options included Earthrise, Legacy, Serenity, and Venture. At the March 20, 2009 poll close, 'Serenity' led those four choices with 70% of the vote. In the end, the poll was discarded and the node was named 'Tranquility'.


Charity screenings

Beginning in January 2006, fans (with Universal's blessing) began organizing charity screenings of ''Serenity'' to benefit
Equality Now Equality Now is a non-governmental organization founded in 1992 to advocate for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls. Equality Now works through public policy channels to create a just world for women and girls. Th ...
, a human rights organization supported by Joss Whedon. By mid-June, 41 such screenings had been confirmed for cities in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and United States, and as of June 19, 2006, there were 47 scheduled screenings. The project was referred to as "Serenity Now/Equality Now" on the official website, but was often referred to in shortened form as "Serenity Now", and was coordinated throug
"Can't Stop The Serenity"
The name officially changed in 2007 to Can't Stop The Serenity (CSTS) This has become a multi-venue event held each calendar year in various countries and cities and on various dates throughout the year. Funds raised by the events go to Equality Now (and other charities).


Related works and merchandise


Comics

Universal Studios wanted to do an animated prequel to the ''Serenity'' film, but after Whedon and Brett Matthews wrote a story, Universal scuttled the project. The story was rewritten into a three-issue
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
miniseries intended to bridge the gap between the television series and the film. '' Serenity: Those Left Behind'' was released from July through September 2005 by
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...
. After ''Those Left Behind'', other comics of the series were also published.


Books

A novelization of the film was written by
Keith DeCandido Keith Robert Andreassi DeCandido (born April 18, 1969) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer and musician, who works on comic books, novels, role-playing games and video games, including numerous media tie-in books for properties such ...
and published by
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
under their Pocket Star imprint on August 30, 2005.
Titan Publishing Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of the British entertainment company Titan Entertainment, which was established as Titan Books in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinem ...
published ''Serenity: The Official Visual Companion'' on September 1, 2005, and
Titan Magazines Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of the British entertainment company Titan Entertainment, which was established as Titan Books in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cine ...
released a one-shot souvenir magazine.
Margaret Weis Productions Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. is a games publisher located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States and founded in 2004 after Margaret Weis and Don Perrin, the two founders of Sovereign Press, divorced. Games Margaret Weis Productions is p ...
released the ''Serenity'' tabletop role-playing game based on the film on September 19, 2005.


Trading card set and action figures

Inkworks issued a 72-card
trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other t ...
set, including autographed cards and cards with swatches of costumes used in the film, on September 21, 2005. The set won
Diamond Comics Diamond Comics is an Indian comic book publisher and distribution company, headquartered in Delhi, India. It is the largest comic book distributor and publisher in India. Diamond Comics created several original Indian comic characters like Ch ...
' 2005 Non-Sports Card Product of the Year Gem Award.
Diamond Select Toys Diamond Select Toys and Collectibles, LLC was founded in 1999 by sister company Diamond Comics Distributors to create collectibles for adult collectors, and has since licensed a variety of pop culture properties, including Marvel Comics, ''Star Wa ...
released five six-inch
action figures An action figure is a poseable character (arts), character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game, television program, or sport; fictional or historical. These fig ...
initially featuring Malcolm Reynolds, Jayne Cobb, and a Reaver, later adding River Tam, Inara Serra, and Zoe Washburne. The line was deemed to be "disappointing" with the figure of Malcolm Reynolds particularly singled out; both won MWCToys' silver award for Worst Line and Worst Male Figure under twelve inches for 2005.


Themes and cultural allusions

While the film depicts the Alliance as an all-powerful, authoritarian-style regime, Whedon states it is not so simple. "The Alliance isn't some evil empire", he explains, but rather a largely benevolent bureaucratic force. The Alliance's main problem is that it seeks to govern everyone, regardless of whether they desire to belong to the central government or not. What the crew of ''Serenity'' represent—specifically Mal and his lifestyle—is the idea that people should have the right to make their own decisions, even if those decisions are bad.Whedon, ''Serenity: Director's Commentary'', track 17 "Fighting for Belief" The Operative embodies the Alliance and is, as Whedon describes, the "perfect product of what's wrong with the Alliance". He is someone whose motives are to achieve a good end, a "world without sin". The Operative believes so strongly in this idea that he willingly compromises his humanity in furtherance of it—as he himself admits, he would have no place in this world. In contrast, Mal is, at the movie's beginning, a man who has lost all faith. By the movie's ending, Mal has finally come to believe so strongly in something—individual liberty—that he becomes willing to lay down his life to preserve it.Whedon, ''Serenity: Director's Commentary'', track 10 "Posing a Threat". Whedon has said that the most important line spoken in the film is when Mal forces the Operative to watch the Miranda footage at the climax of the film, promising him: "I'm going to show you a world without sin". Whedon makes the point that a world without sin is a world without choice, and that choice is ultimately what defines humanity. According to Whedon, the planet "Miranda" was named for
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's Miranda in ''
The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...
'', who in Act V, scene I says: "O brave new world, / That has such people in't!" A spaceship found on the planet Miranda carries the codename "C57D", a reference to the flying saucer in the 1956 film ''
Forbidden Planet ''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction action film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (director), Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on a film story by ...
''. The plot to ''Forbidden Planet'' is based on ''The Tempest'' and, like ''Serenity'', features a character struggling with his subconscious. The Alliance had hoped that Miranda would be a new kind of world, filled with peaceful, happy people, and represents the "inane optimism of the Alliance". The Fruity Oaty Bar commercial shown in the Maidenhead spaceport bar, which carried the subliminal message that triggered River Tam, is partially inspired by Mr. Sparkle, the mascot of a fictional brand of dish-washing detergent, who was featured in ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'' episode "
In Marge We Trust "In Marge We Trust" is the twenty-second episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 27, 1997.. It was the first episode of the s ...
". Whedon mentions in a DVD feature that when the Fruity Oaty Bar commercial was being designed, he constantly asked the animators to redesign it and make it even ''more'' bizarre than the previous design, until it arrived at the version presented on screen.


Canceled sequel

Fans had hoped that if ''Serenity'' had been successful, it might lead to either a sequel or a film trilogy. The first major sequel rumor began on December 1, 2005, when IGN Filmforce reported that Universal had expressed an interest in making a ''Serenity'' television movie for broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel. It was expected that commissioning of a television sequel would be contingent on strong DVD sales of ''Serenity''. In a January 2006 interview, Whedon doubted the chances of a sequel. On October 1, 2006, Whedon posted a comment to the Whedonesque.com website, debunking a rumor that he was working on a sequel. In an interview at the 2007
Comic-Con A comic book convention or comic con is a fan convention emphasizing comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book Fan (person), fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events h ...
, Whedon stated that he believes hope for a sequel rests in the sales of the Collector's Edition DVD. In an August 2007 interview with Amazon.com prior to the Collector's Edition DVD release, Whedon stated, "It's still on my mind, I mean, but I don't know if mine is the only mind that it's on." He later said, "You know, whether or not ''anybody'' who's involved would be available at that point—everybody's working, I'm happy to say—is a question, but whether I would want to do another one is not a question."Whedon's August 2007 interview with Amazon
(audio file)


References


Further reading

* * * * *


External links

* * {{Authority control 2005 films 2005 science fiction action films 2000s Western (genre) science fiction films 2005 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) science fiction films American science fiction action films American space adventure films American space opera films Films based on television series Films based on works by Joss Whedon Films directed by Joss Whedon Films produced by Barry Mendel Films scored by David Newman (composer) Films set in the 26th century Films set on fictional planets Films set on spacecraft Films shot in Los Angeles Firefly (franchise) Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form–winning works Nebula Award for Best Script–winning works American science fiction adventure films Films with screenplays by Joss Whedon Sequel films to television series Space Western films Universal Pictures films 2005 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language Western (genre) films English-language science fiction action films Saturn Award–winning films