Jewel Staite

4 October 2005

Dear Roj

So, it’s happened: Serenity has made it’s debut. The first weekend is over. I dragged nearly everyone I knew to it and made them sit through it, no bathroom breaks allowed-they might miss important plot points and sweet fight sequences! And some of them even went to see it again, and again, and then again (and no, I’m not counting my parents, here, because they’re already asking me for their own personal copy of the DVD and poster and role playing book-I REALLY hope my Dad doesn’t want to play Inara). Yes, my family and my friends are devoted and very proud of even the silliest of things that I do, but I knew by their slightly sheepish faces on being caught with not one, not two, but THREE Serenity movie passes in their wallets on only the third day of it opening that they loved this movie.

I am so pleased by this. I’ve always vowed to never get too close to a project and to never, ever fall in love with it, but I did that with Firefly, and I did it again with Serenity. I couldn’t help it. It’s special to me. It stands out. And to know that it stands out for other people too, people that love it because it’s intelligent and funny and so original, it makes me happier than anything. Joss is right when he says that none of the usual industry rules apply to this movie, because they really don’t. There’s no predicting what will happen. We don’t know what’s coming, and we don’t know what our ultimate fate will be. It’s virtually impossible to know. We are different. We always have been. It’s just what makes us even more special.

Above all else, we opened this weekend to the tune of 10.1 million dollars, and we’re the number one "new" movie in the country. That says a ton. I know my theatre was packed to the brim with browncoats, and when I see it again this weekend coming up, I know it will be the same, because you don’t give up. We have something that bikini-clad treasure-hunting Paul Walker-kissing peeps don’t, and that’s the most dedicated, most wonderful fan base in the world. (know how good that feels?)

It’s of course, far from over. The second weekend means even more than the first. We need this film to stay in theatres for as long as possible to give ourselves the opportunity to make some cash so we can keep going, keep flying, and keep making movies. And those people saying shitty things, saying that you don’t matter and that it’s over? They don’t get it. No big deal. Ignore that kind of stuff. There are NO RULES here. No accurate predictions. Anything is possible. Just know that everything you do, every ten bucks you spend on a ticket, every friend you bring to the theatre with you, all of it helps. Lets show them how mighty we can be.

I am so proud.

Jewel

PS If you’re reading this Dad, I was just kidding. You can play Inara. Just not Kaylee, k?