The image above is from the TV Series Firefly. It was the scene being shot when cast and crew received word the network was cancelling the show. Series creator Joss Whedon said to star Nathan Fillion, “This isn’t over.” This was partly to motivate that look for the scene, but also expressed how much Whedon wanted to give the characters a proper ending. He attempted to get another network to buy the show from Fox, even if it was just a TV Movie finale. He found a fan in Universal executive Mary Parent. She couldn’t get it approved with a blockbuster budget, but she also didn’t want it to look like television on the big screen. It helped that the show was recently released on DVD and sales were strong.
Whedon’s original idea was to use story ideas from the unfilmed second season, but the script was too long and too expensive. The studio recommended a story that would address unresolved plot points from the first season, mainly the mystery of River (Summer Glau). The script contained a couple of important new characters to give the film some star power. There’s David Krumholtz as superhacker Mr. Universe and Chiwetel Ejiofor as the formidable, cunning and relentless villain known as The Operative.
The most interesting production note deals with Summer Glau’s background dance training. Fight Choreography is from Ryan Watson, who went on to work on Wonder Woman and The Mandalorian. He incorporated Glau’s dance skills into River’s fighting style. They also hired a camera operator with dance training who could move around the action, and glide through the middle of it.
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