This is one of those cases when I’m genuinely sorry to have been right, but “Serenity” is officially a box-office flop. Despite all the glowing reviews and sparkling word-of-mouth from the converted, the movie never crossed over to a larger audience. After just over two weeks in release, “Serenity” has only grossed $22 million, and won’t come close to earning back its production budget of $39 million, much less the money Universal put into promoting it over the last several months.
The good news is, in this day and age the box office is not even remotely the last stop for a feature film. Given the size of the established “Firefly” fan base, the movie will certainly turn a profit on DVD (and it won’t surprise me if that release is rushed up, perhaps to just before Christmas). Based on how well that disc sells, creator Joss Whedon may well get the green light for a sequel or two–but they won’t be appearing in your local theater. Direct-to-video is much more likely. It’s very doubtful that Whedon would get another $39 million each to make them, but I imagine he could do pretty well with a half or even a third of that.
Still, too bad, and also a reminder that “blogosphere buzz” has its limits in the larger world.
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