I’m not sure how many we’ll get, but even one movie (plus the webisodes this summer) will be enough to prolong the end of the series for me.

The latest news in the production of this new TV movie is that one of the more popular writers on the show, Jane Espenson, will be the one penning this new chapter in the series. She wrote four episodes this season so far, according to IMDB, which include the awesome Hub episode, to go along with co-executive producing the entire season.

The move to put her at the head of the table for this one was the leaving of two other writers for the series, David Weddle and Bradley Thompson, who are moving on to the hit CBS series, CSI.

SyFy Portal talked to Weddle, who had this to say about Espenson:

“Jane Espenson has eagerly grabbed the baton and will write the movie,” Weddle confirmed. “We helped the staff outline the plot this week, and this [Thursday] is my final day at ‘Battlestar.’”

Interesting developments. Weddle and Thompson penned the awesome mid-season finale, Revelations, but they had to make this move now, even though there was the potential for a few more films to write.

Espenson has written for all kinds of popular TV shows, like Firefly, Buffy, Gilmore Girls, Angel and an episode from my beloved Nowhere Man.

Regardless, those of us “Browncoats” who loved the show and the movie Serenity, will likely enjoy this new book by Jane Espenson. I would have included the entire name of it as the title of this post, but it’s frakking long:

“Serenity Found: More Unauthorized Essays on Joss Whedon’s Firefly Universe”

I found out about this book yesterday from Whitney Matheson, the USA Today Pop Candy writer extraordinaire. It looks pretty unique to me and it’s a collection of essays and behind-the-scenes looks. Here’s the basic description of the book from Amazon.com:

This follow-up to Finding Serenity takes the examination of Joss Whedon’s canceled cult favorite even further, addressing the events of the film Serenity as well as offering even more thought-provoking, fascinating, and far-thinking essays on the Firefly universe. Contributors include actor Nathan Fillion, who played Captain Mal Reynolds, as well as noted science fiction writer Orson Scott Card. Behind-the-scenes details are explored, including why Firefly makes such a good platform for the upcoming Multiverse online game (with an essay written by Multiverse executive producer Corey Bridges), while other essays examine recurring issues from both the series and the movie, such as the Alliance’s hatred of science, the role of smart-mouthed women, and the real reason the Firefly universe has no aliens.

I didn’t know about Finding Serenity either, which is a bummer, but now I have two to read when I get a chance.

Whitney Matheson posted an excerpt from Serenity Found, written by Nathan Fillion, which is pretty great. Read Nathan’s Essay here on Pop Candy.

Not sure when I’ll get around to buying and reading these, but I plan on it soon. Christmas present anyone?

j/k

(You can order these books from Amazon using any of the links in this post, which are affiliate links for me. I don’t usually links to things using my Amazon affiliate stuff, because that’s on my sports blog, but figured may as well.)