For all you Browncoats out there, it appears as though Fox may have some renewed interest and are "open" to reviving Joss Whedon's beloved cult favorite, Firefly.
"The macro answer is, any time we look at one of our classic titles, if there's a way to reinvent it for today so it's as resonant now as the original was, and is, to the fans, we're wide open," Fox's President of Entertainment, Michael Thorn, told The Wrap when asked what would need to happen for Firefly to come back to screens. "I loved 'Firefly,' personally, and I watched every episode. I didn't work on it, but I loved the show. It had come up before, but we had 'The Orville' on the air and it didn't make sense for us to have, as a broadcast network who is very targeted, to have two space franchises on our air."
Despite being "very busy" at Fox as he works on both 9-1-1 and spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star, Firefly's executive producer Tim Minear started this fresh wave of interest in the show after recently uploading a picture capturing the final day of shooting. Busy or not, it turns out that Minear and Whedon have at least had conversations over the prospect of a return.
"Joss did sort of revive it by making 'Serenity,'" Minear said. "But we have talked about different permutations and how that might work. Do you take two of the characters and put them in a different place and sort of retell a new story with two old characters, with new characters?"
He continued, "You're not gonna get everybody back — unless you did something like a limited series, like they did for 'The X-Files.' Then maybe you could get these people to come back. 'Cause Nathan is a little busy doing 'The Rookie.' But I also know, 'cause I just texted a little bit with Nathan over the weekend, when I posted those pictures from 'Firefly' and he got very sentimental. Everyone who worked on that show dearly loves it and they all still talk to each other. I still see Alan occasionally."
Minear continued his thoughts, admitting that he would like to see the show come back as a short series, planned around "an eight- or 10-episode limited adventure in that universe."
Premiering in September 2002, Firefly was cancelled after only 11 of its first 14 episodes aired. Created by Joss Whedon, Firefly starred Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, Summer Glau and Ron Glass.