According to the Hollywood Reporter, the canceled TV series Firefly will get a new life on the silver screen thanks to a deal between creator Joss Whedon and Universal Studios.  Whedon, who took Buffy the Vampire Slayer from a box office disappointment to a smash hit TV series, will attempt to do just the opposite with Firefly, which crashed and burned in the ratings during a short stint on the Fox Network.  Whedon, whose comic book series Fray has just been collected into a trade paperback by Dark Horse, will write the screenplay for the Firefly feature and make his debut as a film director.  Current plans have Firefly in production by the end of next March.

Although its tenure on Fox was short (see 'Firefly Dimmed'), Firefly did develop something of a cult following.  Set 500 years in the future, it was a kind of 'anti Star Trek' with no regular aliens or monstrous creatures (see 'Buffy Creator Sells SF Series To Fox').  The aborted Firefly TV series (3 episodes were never broadcast) is coming out DVD in December and already has fans clamoring to pre-order the DVD set, which contains 15 hours of programming.  Retailers who deal in science fiction DVDs should not neglect this potential cult hit.