The Return of Mutant Enemy?

[nerd4hire]

Mutant Enemy was Joss's television production company, right? That makes this recent comment from Whedon the cause of some rubbing of the hands in possible anticipation.

Beyond that, I'm just starting to think about Mutant Enemy as a real production company and getting things off the ground that are really not as gigantic, so I can get things moving quicker. I'm tired of not telling stories. It's really hard to get on television and birthing any television show is the most painful thing imaginable. Once you have one, you love it so much you forget, so you try to birth another one. Much like the female body"¦But right now, the thought of trying to get a TV show off the ground is a little daunting. But the thought of making things that are smaller, a little more streamlined and a little more indie, so that I don't have to spend three and a half years telling every story. It doesn't feel like who I am. I feel like there are too many stories to tell, and that's part of why I've been working in comics so much, because the turnaround is so quick.

http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/movies/news/n12919.htm

He's saying he wants to get back into TV, right?

 

[Wiccaness]

Thats kinda what i got from it

 

[Mr. Pointy]

Good article...thanks for posting it and, yup, it does sound like Joss wants to get some more TV stuff going.

 

[Buffy Summers]

Sign me up lol 😉

 

[Edmund Blackadder]

Seems to me, he has finally realized where his bread is buttered.

His movie career isn't exactly swimming, with what he obviously planned as his big hit into Bryan Singer league(Wonder Woman) taken from him, he is now going back to the people that gave him everything he wanted.

I hope anything he develops is worth watching, but honestly I want him to fail, big time, just once. Make him sweat a bit, then, just then, will he really have to fight for viewers and a show by making something thats not just good, but extraordinary.

 

[goldenboy]

All he needs to do to fail is get another show on FOX's Fall schedule, that'd do it. Seems like Mutant Enemy could do really well with their stuff on cable, couldn't they? ABC seems like the edgiest broadcast Net these days.

It would be interesting to see Joss try a sitcom, or a big mainstream dramedy thing. But I want more genre stuff, honestly.

 

[Mortal]

I hope anything he develops is worth watching, but honestly I want him to fail, big time, just once. Make him sweat a bit, then, just then, will he really have to fight for viewers and a show by making something thats not just good, but extraordinary.

I suppose you could say he's already failed with Firefly in the sense that it got canceled right off the bat - not that the show didn't have potential.

 

[crabby patty]

I suppose you could say he's already failed with Firefly in the sense that it got canceled right off the bat - not that the show didn't have potential.

yeah I would say that too, not to the fans who liked but to the cancellation of it and also having Angel cancelled too.

it seems to be getting harder now to make new TV, no one is safe!

 

[teentitan]

I think Joss' big failure (as stated by BoTD) is having WW taken away from him. That had to be a blow to his confidence because next to Spiderman and Superman everyone has wanted a WW movie.
Serenity was considered a money maker that's why Joss was tapped to do WW. So to me loosing WW he has lost some lustre, why? Who knows?
Why else would he say he likes comics and wants to do a tv show? He is retreating to what he knows and where he is considered a big shot. Guess he needs a confidence boost.

 

[white avenger]

Referring to Mutant Enemy as a production company may mean that he wants to be the boss again. The Wonder Woman thing most certainly hurt, regardless of how he tries to make little of it, and, regardless of how much creative authority he might have on X-MEN and even BUFFY SEASON 8, he's still basically working for somebody else. As the head of his own production company, he has people working for him, people to whom he can go and say something like, "I've got an idea for a tv series about this humble unassuming hero whose a champion martial artist and absolutely irresistible to women, a brilliant scientist, and as wealthy and wise as Solomon who goes around saving people while accompanied by his ever faithful pit bulldog I want to call it, "The Adventures of the White Avenger." Get on it, write me a script, and have casting call Hugh Jackman. I'll be at the sauna when you get the first draft ready for me."

Well, not exactly that, but actors, writers, and directors have formed their own production companies in Hollywood since the days of silent movies. It gives them the chance to have others do the grunt work while they do the final polishing, and allows them to have more projects in development at one time. He goes from being the carpenter to being the contractor.

 

[Lyri]

i'm with White Avenger. it seems to me that Joss got comfortable being the boss. he isn't used to working FOR someone, having to meet deadlines, go over the scripts, being sent back to rewrite.
we all know that Joss can make a hell of a TV show when he's calling the shots. yes, WW might knocked his confidence a little, so he's going back to what he knows best, to where he's most comfortable, TV.
if this is where he's going, i can't wait to see what he comes up with.

 

[white avenger]

That White Avenger thing sounds pretty good to me...

 

[Edmund Blackadder]

See, Firefly could have been viewed as his TV fall, except he was commissioned to make a Movie based on it pretty much when it finsihed.
That didn't give him the chance to really be humbled.

Losing WW, that will be quite humbling, specifically as it was about a type of character he does best 'a female superhero trying to make it in the world while dealing with an alterego and life', but he needs to 'fail' on the small screen.

I don't think he has been humbled enough to create something magnificent(which we do knwo he is capable of). I hear him in interviews, read them, and the passion and drive that he had up to season 3 of Buffy(that includes his promotion of Angel season 1) seems to have slipped. He still wants it, but not quite enough.

I also want him to move away from Genre/Sci-fi.

The guy has shown in all his shows he has a talent for other genres, I would like to see him try a show like some kind of I've got an idea for a tv series about this humble unassuming hero whose a champion martial artist and absolutely irresistible to women, a brilliant scientist, and as wealthy and wise as Solomon who goes around saving people while accompanied by his ever faithful pit bulldog I want to call it, "The Adventures of the White Avenger".

😉

 

[nerd4hire]

Doesn't the "Joss has been humbled" theory kind of depend on him not being able to sell his Goners, and Cabin in the Woods scripts?

Personally, I always thought the guy was pretty humble to begin with. Wonder Woman was in no way the first time he's had his ass kicked by the people managing the purse strings. It's happened on both movies and TV. He just keeps writing. Wonder Woman was not his first foray into the world of movies. He won an Academy Award before BTVS. In fact as we know BTVS is based on a movie. He wrote the script for it and he felt screwed by the guys in charge with that one.

Or does the theory go he felt like such a big shot after having two series canceled on him on TV that he assumed Movies would welcome him with open arms. Wouldn't he have felt like a bigger shot as a younger man shortly after he won the oscar. By the time of WW he'd already been kicked around a lot by both TV and Movies.

Then there's the current fact Serenity has turned out to be a financial success. As a movie director he's one for one successful. His movie rep has never been stronger. He brought it in under budget, and found a way to make it successful in spite of a lack of Theatrical promotion. Studios like that idea of not spending much money, yet getting more money back. Well, why wouldn't they?

 

[Mortal]

Why did Serenity perform poorly in the box office despite its obvious success later on?

It made $25.5 million in domestic and $13.3 million in foreign box office gross compared to $40 million production cost (see link at bottom), which is to say it technically bombed in the box office, but later became a financial success because of unusually strong DVD sales.

It won a bunch of awards and has been a top rated film on various movie web sites, especially among sci-fi fans. So if it can do so well outside the box office, then I assume it should have been able to perform better in the box office as well, but for some reason it didn't and I'd like to know why? Who dropped the ball on that one?

As for the awards, here's what wiki has to say: "Serenity won film of the year awards from Film 2005[3] and FilmFocus.[4] It also won IGN Film's Best Sci-Fi, Best Story and Best Trailer awards and was runner up for the Overall Best Movie.[5] It also won the Nebula Award for Best Script for 2005, the 7th annual 'User Tomato Awards' for best Sci-Fi movie of 2005 at Rotten Tomatoes, the 2006 viewers choice Spacey Award for favorite movie, the 2006 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form[6] and the 2006 Prometheus Special Award."

link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_(film)

 

[goldenboy]

Why did Serenity perform poorly in the box office despite its obvious success later on?

A few reasons, I think. Relatively small, somewhat confusing TV campaign. Came out in late September (in the States), right? Slow movie time of year. And, I bet the Firefly demo skews a little older than teens, who are the ones who still go to the movies in mass numbers. Older movie watchers are staying home more, waiting for DVDs.

 

[Jone]

I hope he does bring back Mutant Enemy! They were my favorite company.

"Seems to me, he has finally realized where his bread is buttered.

His movie career isn't exactly swimming, with what he obviously planned as his big hit into Bryan Singer league(Wonder Woman) taken from him, he is now going back to the people that gave him everything he wanted.

I hope anything he develops is worth watching, but honestly I want him to fail, big time, just once. Make him sweat a bit, then, just then, will he really have to fight for viewers and a show by making something thats not just good, but extraordinary." -Bored of the Dead

I think people have taken away the thing he most enjoyed doing and working on, and that was Firefly. And to him (and all his fans) that was the worst thing he had to go through on a tv series. He hated the idea of his favorite show (I think he has called it his baby in some interviews) taken from him and he couldn't tell anymore stories about the characters he grew to love. That's why he pushed so hard on getting a Firefly movie. And when it bombed in the Box Office, well, that crushed him even more. And Firefly was an awesome show, and to Joss and all his Firefly Fans it really wasn't just good, but extraordinary. So personally, I think the guy has sweated enough.

I also think the fact that he didn't get to make the WW movie was a low-blow. He spent 18 months on that scirpt. And he's said that those are 18 months he doesn't have anymore.

 

[nerd4hire]

If one doesn't mind reading a long interview Joss pretty much backgrounds, and explains the history of everything HERE

 

[white avenger]

See, Firefly could have been viewed as his TV fall, except he was commissioned to make a Movie based on it pretty much when it finsihed.
That didn't give him the chance to really be humbled.

Losing WW, that will be quite humbling, specifically as it was about a type of character he does best 'a female superhero trying to make it in the world while dealing with an alterego and life', but he needs to 'fail' on the small screen.

I don't think he has been humbled enough to create something magnificent(which we do knwo he is capable of). I hear him in interviews, read them, and the passion and drive that he had up to season 3 of Buffy(that includes his promotion of Angel season 1) seems to have slipped. He still wants it, but not quite enough.

I also want him to move away from Genre/Sci-fi.

The guy has shown in all his shows he has a talent for other genres, I would like to see him try a show like some kind of I've got an idea for a tv series about this humble unassuming hero whose a champion martial artist and absolutely irresistible to women, a brilliant scientist, and as wealthy and wise as Solomon who goes around saving people while accompanied by his ever faithful pit bulldog I want to call it, "The Adventures of the White Avenger".

😉

I like that "White Avenger" thing, it sounds like a sure winner. If Hugh Jackman isn't available, gimme a call. I'll give it a shot. Could we possibly get Catherine Zeta jones as the female lead?

 

[teentitan]

Older movie watchers are staying home more, waiting for DVDs.

OK I would like to try and understand this "older movie watcher" statement you have thrown out there GB.
As a "mature movie watcher" I have developed an instinct on what would be a good movie to watch in a theater with usually a crowd of "younger movie watchers" who usually endlessly chat during the movie, tell you to 'F' off when you politely ask them to be quite, never have the courtesy to turn off that damn cell phone, giggle like pre-pubescent school girls etc.
OR
As a "mature movie watcher" I can enjoy watching a movie in my rec room on my 54" HDTV with the sound level set to a comfortable level (you know the level where my eardrums will not bleed) in the company of the best date a man could ever have...my "mature movie watching" wife.
So please GB do not classify me as a "older movie watcher" just because I have reached a time in my life where the cost of "high end" audio and video equipment is no longer a strain on my bank account. Someday you too will be an "older movie watcher" and will take advantage of what I now enjoy.
Thanks for understanding, LOL.