"After Alien: Resurrection I said the next person who ruins one of my scripts is going to be me," he said, with tongue in cheek. "And I think I'm doing a fine job. Actually, I think that the director on occasion could use a little more imagination and the writer could have shut up occasionally. We fight, but we're still getting along better than I usually do."

The version of “Serenity” that screened in Chatsworth Tuesday evening isn’t quite the movie we’ll be seeing next fall. The music was temporary and the special effects were only about half-baked, with Adam Baldwin hanging off wires and many spaceships lurching about without texture and detail.

Still, in many ways the film is already a great antidote for those of us so terrifically bored by the “Star Wars” prequels. The lion’s share of my own disappointment with “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones” can be traced to an absence of players as compelling and likeable as Han and Leia.

Whedon has created such incredible characters and dialogue in this movie. What has always struck me about most science fiction movies is that no one speaks normally, it’s almost as if space has stifled their sense of normalcy.... Well, as most of you will already know, Whedon can put his characters in the most unimaginable and incredible circumstances and still give them personalities, wit, and true emotion. It doesn’t sound like much, but between the dialogue, the characters, and the visuals (effects were unfinished, but you could tell what will be in store for the final product), I believe that he has really not just elevated the genre, but has transcended it.

Firefly fan alert!
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Looks pretty sweet - I love Wash's "interesting" quip - but where's the Shepherd?
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For that matter, where is Kaylee?
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"Sound in space? Nooooo!!!"
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Let's hope it's just a publicity stunt.
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For that matter, where is Kaylee?
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I'm so tempted to read those spoilers just because I can't even imagine how "sounds in space" could be a significant plot point.  Maybe something like, "Space is flooded with air and the Firefly team have to save the universe from the impending doom it faces due to the breach of the laws of physics!"
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No, this is Firefly we're talking about, not Star Trek: The Next Generation.
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...it’s very simple: if nothing is at stake, then I’m making OCEANS 12.

After the screening, one fan asks Buchanan point-blank if he's worried about the previews cannibalizing an audience that now might not turn up in September. His answer is telling:

"We know you guys are gonna go September 30 to see the finished movie," he replies. "[Tonight's preview] was on 20 screens with--what, 250, 300 people per theater? So you're talking about maybe 5,000 people. But on an opening weekend of a movie, you're talking about 3,000 screens. We're not worried."...

There could be another hidden benefit of the September release: By the fall, some key competitors will be lying in their cinematic tombs. As Ain'tItCoolNews.com put it recently, "Most of the major geek franchises are rolling flaming across their finish lines. Star Trek just lolled off the air. Star Wars is migrating to TV. The Wachowskis reduced the Matrix audience to--what?--the Venn-diagram intersection of philosophy undergrads, S&M aficionados, wuxia geeks, and wankers in denial? And the rights to The Hobbitare currently being pried apart by the jackals of finance."

"As Joss has always said, it's about world domination," Buchanan laughs. "You gotta pick your shot. We're like: 'Lucas? Done.'"

it came as an enormous surprise to me that Serenity struck such a nerve. Whedon's big-screen directorial debut is smart, funny, assured and just plain good. What's more, it makes Star Wars look like vacant, plastic eye candy in comparison.

I've just seen the first three episodes of Firefly and am now one the excited hipsters who are holding their breath for this film.  I actually felt a lot cooler after watching.  What a great show!

Does the film pick up where the series ends?  I only ask because I noticed in the trailer that a certain young girl seems to be at the center of the films plot and she is also at the center of the series plot although each episode has its own adventure.  The rest of the series is quietly waiting in my Netflix queue so I understand if this will be clearer upon further viewing.
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And would somebody explain to me why Colin Farrel keeps getting big movies while guys like Nathan Fillion are still struggling to hit the big time? Even Adam Baldwin has more chops than most of the big names out there. Inquiring minds want to know...
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