1. I think your question hinges on what people are fans of. If you are a fan of Firefly, then yes it is kosher because Joss Whedon is a non factor. If you are a fan of Whedon, the water gets a little murky. I haven't seen this script yet, but am guessing it will eventually be set loose on the internet, and I will read it then. Having said that, based on what I have been told about the script, I think for some people this will just cement the idea that Serenity wasn't a very good movie. Being able to see the decisions he made, and how things could have been, just makes it that much more obvious.

Posted at 1:33PM on Jul 5th 2006 by doc

2. Good point, but under that logic that if we are fans we should only see the version he wishes us to see, we should all bow down to George Lucas's shoddy re-releases of Star Wars, because thats what he wants us to watch. Sometimes, I think a fan wishes to see what a movie was before so that they can see how it has evolved into something they love. Which is why I remember wishing to find the internet made "Digital Magic" movie of Star Wars, where to original movie was re-edited to the way Lucas intended it to be, before it was edited by the genius, Academy Award winning editting team. It is horrible, but it shows how a movie can become something great...and it shows how Lucas couldn't write himself out of a paper sack, even back in the 70's....the guy just can't write for sh*t.

Posted at 3:49PM on Jul 5th 2006 by Beeslo

3. would I buy it yes (if I had the money),I don't think Joss is that upset about the script, no he doesn't people to know all the changes the sript went though (what writer does),but it's what fans want to know about-why?, I don't know,but we live for it-I mean look how many sites there are for Star Wars-the behind the scenes stuff-they still feed off any little piece of new info .
p.s.#1(doc) serenity rocks,it was a great movie,maybe you need to watch the movie after you watch firefly(the whole series)
VIVA LA BROWNCOATS

Posted at 4:41PM on Jul 5th 2006 by renee

4. My Whedon gateway drug was when my friend Josh jammed his Firefly DVDs into my hand and said "Look, nerd, watch the first six episodes and if you're not into it by then, stop." I watched all thirteen episodes in one sitting.

Regarding the script, if it's legal for the guy to sell it, he should do it. If anyone out there is surprised to discover that a first draft often varies wildly from a final shooting script, well then they're knuckleheads. (Plus, any plot points or backstories that were excised from the script wouldn't count as "canon" anyway, so they wouldn't be all that juicy.)

Posted at 6:31PM on Jul 5th 2006 by Scott Weinberg

5. Is it kosher? Depends on what you want it for.

If you're interested in the process of making a film, then hell yes. Having an early script - particularly one by someone with a solid track record in dialogue, such as Whedon - would help show the difference between intention and plausibility in the film making process. As someone's commented above, the difference between the original Star Wars films and their subsequent rereleases are perfect examples of this.

If, like me, on the other hand, you're a fan of Serenity and Firefly, I wouldn't bother. Why upset the central conceit of films, of suspending one's disbelief for a couple of hours?

On a side note, Joss Whedon's easy enough to 'get'. No one says what they mean in simple sentences, and the skinny cute girl who doesn't like fighting usually ends up kicking the bad guys' asses. Quite often this occurs by way of either swords or axes. Sometimes both. Hope this helps!

Posted at 9:10PM on Jul 5th 2006 by Geoff

6. 1) Whedon Gateway: I was into the original Buffy movie. Though the television show was a vast improvement on the story concept, I thought the movie was a great time, and very funny. I enjoy a fair number of the Buffy television episodes, but there's a lot of it that, for whatever reason, either bores or annoys me. I never really got into Angel.

Firefly, though? Living in a broken home, with broken people, going from job to job, and just trying to stay above water? This is a familiar place for a lower-middle class bipolar artist like me. Moreover, I BELIEVE it. Though I enjoy both Star Wars and Star Trek, I don't believe either... they are enjoyable because of their fantastical elements. I don't dig Law and Order or CSI Miami. I don't jive to dramatic representations of ripped-from-the-headlines events. Firefly exists in a universe I can believe, with characters and motives I understand, without being the raw nerve of real life, reheashed.

Also, Joss Whedon always surprises me. Very little television does that for me, these days. In every series of his, there have been visual and emotional moments that television has never given me before.

I think that if you have watched a bunch of Whedon productions and you still aren't into his work, you shouldn't sweat it. I think it's awful nice of you to write respectful words about something you're not into. Some bloggers are all about harsh criticism. Maybe you get into some Whedon one day, maybe not. We dig it, and want to share it, and (if other fans are anything like me) we don't judge you for either.


2) The Early Script (presumed to be legit): I think these kind of things have lives of their own. Those who are interested in creative process will look for items like this. People who can't get enough of Serenity and Whedon will seek items like this and enjoy them because, for them, their obsession can almost do no wrong. For true fans, I believe the script would be nothing more than an enjoyable departure, something akin to looking at storyboards or deleted scenes or production photos.

Joss Whedon loves the Firefly universe and it's very likely that there were parts of his early script that he still loves. With his knowledge of how much we fans love Firefly and Serenity, I imagine that, in the long run, he would be happy to know that we continue to find new ways to enjoy it, even if it fractures copyright laws. Having said that, however, I think any money this dude makes should go to Joss Whedon, Equality Now, Universal, or Fox. The seller should either use it to help people, or use it to get us MORE FIREFLY/SERENITY!!!

Posted at 9:17PM on Jul 5th 2006 by Seth Asa

7. Beeslo, I understand your vitriol towards George Lucas, but I would recommend George Lucas' Star Wars (the book) as an example of a very readable, fairly well written piece of sci-fi. Does he still write well? Well, I don't think so, but he did capture a lot of imaginations in penning 'American Grafitti' and 'Star Wars.' As for editing Star Wars, every movie has a time BEFORE it was edited, and I don't think we could stomach many of them if we had to watch 'the version before the Academy Award winning team' got a hold of them.
In this case, his wife Marcia Lucas headed up the editing, and many think that she provided a tasteful balance that was lost once they split up, before Return of the Jedi.

And please don't forget how heavily 'Firefly' stands on the foundation of adventure and rogue smuggling that Lucas' Han Solo pioneered in this genre.

Posted at 10:17PM on Jul 5th 2006 by Scaramanga

8. I apologize, it was "Deleted Magic," not "Digital Magic."

Whether or not Lucas can actually write?

Here is a line from Lucas's original script The Adventures of Luke Starkiller from the Journal of the Whillis: Saga #1 - The Star Wars:

Luke: "I'm about to go supernova!"

'nuff said.

The book was written after the movie and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of it was ghost-written.

Posted at 3:20AM on Jul 6th 2006 by Beeslo

9. Well, first off that disclaimer isn't from the seller, who i'm pretty sure doesn't care that he's making hundreds of dollars from selling something that doesn't belong to him, but from a fan who got the script and posted a recap online. (http://www.serenitystuff.com/2006/07/01/the-earlier-longer-script-for-serenity/). There's a fair debate to be made about whether we should have access to this early version, which joss probably didn't want anybody to see, but now it's here I don't think it's fair to say you're not a real fan if you read it. I think any real fan will be able to read an early draft and appreciate the changes he made. From what I've seen, the original draft has a lot of the 'quiet moments'. The moments that seem natural in a tv show but just slow down a movie. Apparently, when joss completed the first draft he had to say to himself "ok, that's season 2 now lets write the movie" so i think it's fine to read this draft as long as people are smart enough to realise, and us browncoats really are smart, why it couldn't have made it to the big screen.

Posted at 8:51AM on Jul 6th 2006 by Anna

10. It's fairly well known that Star Wars the novelization was ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster.

Posted at 10:50AM on Jul 11th 2006 by Bob