Serenity

Joss Whedon’s first film as director grew out of a series Fox cancelled in December 2002, after only eleven of its fourteen episodes had aired, and those out of order. Whedon went straight to Universal producer Barry Mendel; Mendel took him to executive Mary Parent, who signed on while there was still no story. Whedon argued for Los Angeles and Universal stages rather than shooting abroad, holding the budget at 39 million dollars against a first proposal above 100 million. The script’s real job was to set out the premise for people who had never seen the series without boring new viewers or old. All nine principal actors were due back, but Alan Tudyk and Ron Glass could not commit to sequels and their characters were written to death in the second draft. Zoic Studios, who did the series graphics, rebuilt the ship because the television model would not hold up at cinema resolution. The film took 40.4 million dollars worldwide and won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form and the Nebula Award for Best Script. A good fit if you have never seen the series and do not mind an opening spent introducing a crew of nine. Not for you if you trust the crew will all survive; two regulars died because of cast availability.