Firefly was cut short before its time (only one season shown completely out of order), and Serenity didn’t do as well in the theaters as fans hoped. A bigger success in the theater could have meant sequels, but news on that front has been lacking. However, according to MovieHole.net, Alan Tudyk, aka “Wash”, says that there is talk about doing another Serenity movie since the first one did so well on DVD.

“They had to put [the new DVD] out because they’ve been selling out of the other one and so Universal’s like ‘So, let’s do another one’. And now… there’s now a chance there’s going to be another movie”.

(Read more…)

If there is a sequel, it could be a direct to DVD movie rather than a theater release. Anything at all would be awesome though! I’ll take whatever I can get. Can’t stop the signal!

A new upcoming drama series on Fox is called Drive. It was created by Tim Minear (writer for Angel and Firefly), and has Nathan Fillion (Buffy and Firefly) and Amy Acker (Angel) on the cast list. The show is about a secret, illegal road race, and is planned to air this spring. Nathan Fillion is a great actor and I’m looking forward to it.

Fans of Nathan Fillion will especially enjoy this new Drive Promo Video. Thanks to Whedonesque for the news.

Jewel Staite (Kaylee on Firefly and Serenity) is going to be making an appearance on Stargate: Atlantis. She confirmed this herself on her web site:

And finally, lets talk about Stargate: Atlantis, because most of you are, and I’ve been getting a ton of questions about the thing, so lets just get it out in the open. I know it’s finally been revealed that Paul McGillion is leaving the show, and since I’m coming on the show, a lot of you have it in your head that I’m “replacing” him. First of all, our characters are quite different from each other. Second of all, Paul has a penis, so we’re quite opposite from each other. Third of all, I’m not a regular cast member and I’ve only signed on to do a certain number of episodes (not 15—or at least that was news to me when I heard that on the internet!). One thing I should tell you is that Paul and I are very close friends. He lives three blocks away from me (in my mom’s building– how weird and random is that?) and we see each other all the time. I can honestly say he’s one of the sweetest and most lovely people to work with (the crew of Atlantis raves about him), and I really just adore him. I can’t comment on the why in terms of his character’s absense in the next season, but the best thing about sci fi is nothing is forever! It’s like soap operas—like, maybe in Serenity 2 Wash will have an evil identical twin! (Yeah, Joss, I know, that idea sucks—and if it doesn’t suck and you actually write that one day, I want credit for it) Anyway, I’m really excited about coming on to Atlantis and playing another prodigy—genius mechanic to genius doctor, I am truly moving up in the world! Maybe next time I’ll play the president! heh heh. Just please have an open mind, and don’t hate me—it’s not my fault. I’m just an actor who jumped at the chance to work with a really fun cast in my favorite city (mine) and play a young smarty pants MD with a cool uniform. Can you blame me?

An interesting note is that she has already appeared on one episode of Atlantis called Instinct. In it, she played a young wraith girl living with a human father. Of course, it is difficult to tell it is her with all the wraith make-up on. I’m looking forward to seeing her on Atlantis again, but it’s unfortunate that Dr. Beckett is leaving. He is one of the more likeable characters on the show. I’m sure Jewel Staite will be equally as likeable though.

Futurama is an awesome show. Unfortunately, it was cancelled by Fox prematurely. However, just as Family Guy was brought back recently, Futurama is going to get a second chance. The writing for a new season is in progress, and animation is starting. The only bad news is that it won’t air until 2008… it seems so far away.

This news was reported in a recent interview with David X. Cohen, co-creator of the show.

How long after the last “series finale” does the new season take place? And what can we expect for the Fry and Leela relationship?

COHEN: When our story resumes, two long years have passed. As for the Fry/Leela relationship, we will be visiting that subject right away, so I refuse to tell you where it will lead on the grounds that I want you to buy the DVD.

Read the rest of the interview for more details.

In other news, the game developer Multiverse Network recently announced that it obtained the rights to turn the wonderful sci-fi/western show by Joss Whedon, Firefly, into an MMO. Firefly has some incredible writing, believable characters, and interesting plotlines. Serenity, the movie created after the first and only season of the show, was quite well done, essentially an extended episode of Firefly with better effects. However, I can’t help but to be skeptical about a Firefly MMO. It was the characters and their stories that made the show interesting, not as much the setting. I think a game would have a difficult time reproducing this appeal. Being a fan though, I will definitely be watching for future development news about the game to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Another TV show that is also being developed as an MMO is Stargate Worlds, based on the sci-fi shows Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis (which were in turn based on the Stargate movie). Stargate-SG1 has been another great show, although it lost a little of its magic when a couple of main characters left the show, most notably Jack O’Neill, played by Richard Dean Anderson (”MacGyver”). Now, in its tenth season, the show is being cancelled as of the end of the season. Stargate Atlantis, a fairly good spinoff, will continue to go on. Stargate Worlds sounds like it has a lot of potential. Stargate has an incredible universe set up, with many settings (planets, ships, home bases) and original and interesting races. The Stargate universe sounds like a great basis for a game, and I am looking forward to seeing what happens with it. As with any game, however, the enjoyment and success of a game depends upon its gameplay. Creating an enjoyable MMO is easier said than done, but I would love to see this game succeed.