When the Veronica Mars movie reached its $2 million fundraising goal on Kickstarter in just 10 hours, devoted fans began to imagine what other cancelled shows could seize this financing opportunity.  The first series that came up, repeatedly and emphatically: Firefly.  After all, no one can mobilize his core fanbase like Firefly creator Joss Whedon.  And Whedon admits that his first reaction to the unqualified success was “unfettered joy” because he feels like this is “a real game-changer.”

But before you get your hopes up, Whedon went on to explain why this will not lead to another Firefly movie anytime soon.  Read what he had to say after the jump.

It’s the ten year anniversary of both the birth and death of Firefly, the short-lived sci-fi / post-apocalyptic Whedon-helmed Western that continues to rabidly lives on in the hearts of its fans.  In fact, that’s a major theme addressed in the Science Channel’s one-hour special Firefly: Browncoats Unite, airing November 11th at 10pm after a marathon of the series.  In it, the cast (most — Sean Maher, Summer Glau, Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin and Alan Tudyk — at a roundtable, a few — Morena Baccarin, Gina Torres and Jewel Staite — with separate interviews) along with executive producer Tim Minear and executive story editor Jose Molina, discuss at length the entire oral history of the series, from their favorite moments to their first impressions of each other, and what exactly made the series so magical to fans but not to, at the time, Fox executives.

Attendees to this past summer’s San Diego Comic-Con got a sneak peek of some of the material that’s covered in the special during the series’ panel, and though the special lacks Joss Whedon, it gains Entertainment Weekly senior writer Jeff Jensen, who helps guide the conversational flow.  For more on the special, hit the jump.

Amazon’s Gold Box Deal of the Day is heavy discounts on Joss Whedon‘s TV series.  Today only, you can save up to 79% on Firefly: The Complete Series on Blu-ray plus other Joss Whedon titles like Dollhouse, Angel, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  If you’ve been holding off on buying complete collection sets, now would be a good time.  Whedon’s commentary tracks alone make these sets worth the purchase.

Hit the jump for more info.

I got in line for Ballroom 20 at 6:30am today.  I was early enough to be twenty minutes late to the first panel, because Firefly fans are crazy.  They camped out en masse for the Firefly 10-year reunion—the third panel of the day—and effectively throttled the line for fans of any other properties.  For a show that was cancelled after one shortened season a decade ago, the Firefly crew—Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk, Sean Maher, Summer Glau, writer Jose Molina and producer Tim Minear—sure does draw a crowd.  Could it possibly live up to the Comic-Con hype?  Hit the jump for the panel recap.

Comic-Con has released the schedule for Friday, July 13th, and it provides further proof of how the convention is moving away from movies and towards TV series.  On Friday, three major TV series will be occupying Hall H: The Big Bang Theory, The Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones.  However, there will still be plenty of presentations for movies including ParaNorman, Resident Evil: Retribution, Total Recall, Looper, and most exciting of all—a first look at Neill Blomkamp‘s District 9 follow-up, Elysium.

Outside of Hall H, there’s plenty of other great stuff including the panels for Community, Breaking Bad, The Legend of Korra, Firefly, and more.  Hit the jump for highlights from Friday’s schedule, and click here for Thursday’s schedule.  The 2012 San Diego Comic-Con runs from July 12 – 15th.

That’s right, it’s time for a resurrection. Or at least a celebration — first-time San Diego convention goers the Science Channel will be hosting a special 10-year anniversary panel for Joss Whedon‘s short-lived cult show Firefly. Serenity’s captain and crew will all be in attendance, from Nathan Fillion to Alan Tudyk, Adam Baldwin, Sean Maher, Michael Fairman and more. Whedon and his fellow executive producer and writer Tim Minear are also scheduled for the panel (occurring on Friday the 13th).

Additionally, the network promises never-before-seen footage, along with what is being billed as “numerous buzz-worthy surprises.” For more on the Firefly panel as well as Science’s other contributions to this year’s Comic-Con, hit the jump.

This weekend Hero Complex in association with The Los Angeles Times hosted the third annual Hero Complex Film Festival. Highlights to which included a screening of Shaun of the Dead with Edgar Wright, Wall-E with director Andrew Stanton, A Clockwork Orange with Malcolm McDowell, and Robocop with Peter Weller.

Joss Whedon’s cult-favorite Serenity closed out the festival Sunday night.  Star Nathan Fillion was on hand to discuss the film and its short-lived television predecessor Firefly.  (I still maintain that show’s season/series finale “Objects in Space to be the finest piece of writing Whedon’s ever done.)  In the post screening Q&A, Fillion reflected on reuniting with the cast for the film, reciting Whedon’s particular cadences and previews his role in another Whedon project/film: Much Ado About Nothing.  For all this and more, hit the jump.

To the surprise of no one, Adam Chitwood, Dave Trumbore, and I gave The Avengers our full attention in the latest episode of Collider’s new podcast, The Collision.  We talked about the film, its record-breaking opening weekend, what it could mean for future Marvel movies, why Marvel needs to bring back Joss Whedon (provided he wants the gig), and the film’s epilogue (we put that at the end of the podcast to avoid spoiling it for people who haven’t seen the movie yet).  Finally, we finished up with our recommendations, and you can check out trailers for those recommendations after the jump.

Click here to listen to the new episode, click here for last week’s episode, and click here to add The Collision to your RSS feed.  Also, we are now on iTunes, and while it’s still not where we want it to be, we’re working on it and I thank everyone who helped us out.  Also, I’m in the process of looking for a new Skype recording program and a good mixing program for PC.  As always, please sound off in the comments section on how we can improve the show. [Special thanks to Jason Barr for mixing this week's podcast]

Though the Internet has given way to plenty of nasty and terrible things over the years, one of the most fruitful recent trends has been Q&A sessions with writers/directors/actors/etc. on Reddit.  Mr. Joss Whedon (who’s technically royalty here on the internets) participated in a Reddit AMA recently, touching on everything from a Dr. Horrible sequel to season two of Firefly, to Scarlett Johansson’s prevalence as a “sex object” in much of the marketing for The Avengers.

Hit the jump to check out some of the highlights from the conversation.

From the creators of Despicable Me comes the animated feature film adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, a beloved cautionary tale of environmental conservation wrapped up in a colorful children’s story.  The 3D-CG animated adaptation is an adventure that follows the journey of idealistic 12-year-old Ted (voiced by Zac Efron) while he searches for a real Truffula Tree for Audrey (voiced by Taylor Swift), in order to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find one, he must learn the story of the Lorax (voiced by Danny DeVito) from the enigmatic and bitter old hermit, known as the Once-ler (voiced by Ed Helms), who let the temptation of greed and success get the better of him.  For more on the film, here’s some images, trailers, 8 clips from the movie, and the Super Bowl spot.

At the recent Los Angeles press day, I was able to speak with Zac Efron for our partners at Omelete.  During the interview, Efron talked about how he got involved in The Lorax, how his character changed during the recording process, karaoke, his favorite movie, actor and director, and who he plays in director Josh Radnor‘s Liberal Arts.  Finally, fans of Joss Whedon might know that Efron’s first acting job was a role on the sci-fi series Firefly. Do you remember who he played? Hit the jump to find out.

Today’s Amazon Gold Box Deal of the Day is Joss Whedon‘s Firefly – The Complete Series on either DVD or Blu-ray for 70% off.  If you’ve only heard the buzz on this great show, today is your best chance to check it out for a fraction of its regular price.  Here’s the links and hit the jump for the list of special features.  Firefly starred Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Alan Tudyk, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher and Ron Glass.

• Firefly – The Complete Seried DVD
• Firefly – The Complete Series [Blu-ray]

Every once in a while, I like to remind readers that our weekly “Top 5″ is a perpetual “work in progress.” That in mind, if you ever find yourself thinking, “Man, I wish Jason wasn’t such an idiot and would do this or that with the ‘Top 5′,” then I’m inviting you to either leave your suggestion in the comments section and/or e-mail me (colliderjason@gmail.com). The goal is to make the weekly feature as beneficial and entertaining to you, the reader, as possible. So, by all means, let us know if there is something missing that you would like to see. Now, with that out of the way…

In this week’s installment, you’ll find all of our video interviews with the cast of Conan the Barbarian, Matt’s editorial documenting what he views as the rise and fall of cult status, the first trailer and 34 hi-res images from Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, news confirming all of our worst fears regarding a Blade Runner follow-up, and our visit to the Alamo Drafthouse to check out the new Fright Night with stars Anton Yelchin and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Hit the jump for links and brief recaps for each.

Look back on this week.  How many times did you directly or indirectly reference a movie or TV show you like?  Did you wear a T-shirt with some sly reference or did you simply make an offhanded quote?  Our world has become drenched in allusions to the entertainment we enjoy and it can dominate our dialogue as our identity becomes more and more entrenched with brands and our identities entwined what we enjoy.  A recent study published in the Journalism of Consumer Psychology [via BoingBoing] concluded that criticism of a brand caused personal offense to the supporters of that brand.  Or, as Devindra Hardawar put it, “Fanboys explained.”  It’s the same way religion functions except now zealots worship at the altar pop culture and, even more fervently, entertainment that landed outside the mainstream.

This editorial will explore the latter and the irony of how a fandom’s fervent devotion and popularization of a cult property can drive off an original adherent.

Amazon’s Gold Box Deal of the Day is Joss Whedon’s Firefly: The Complete Series Blu-ray.  If you still don’t own this awesome show, it’s on sale for $23.49 (which is 74% off).  In addition, Amazon also has the Serenity Blu-ray (the Firefly movie) on sale for $9.99 (63% off).  Remember, Gold Box Deals are only for one day and if you spend over $25 you get free shipping.

On the sci-fi drama V, actress Morena Baccarin plays Anna, the beautiful leader of the Visitors and a Queen born to rule the advanced alien species whose spaceships have arrived on Earth and positioned themselves over 29 cities around the world. To the people of Earth, she appears to be charming and peaceful, as she offers gifts and invites humans to live on her ships under the guise of friendship, but in reality, Anna is cruel and cunning, ruling the Visitors with an iron fist and manipulating humanity in horrifying and unpredictable ways. No one knows her true intentions on Earth – not the Fifth Column resistence, and not even her daughter, Lisa (Laura Vandervoort) – which makes her all the more dangerous.

While at the party to celebrate the ABC portion of the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, Morena Baccarin talked about working with original V star Jane Badler this season, the continuing changes in her character, the addition of Marc Singer to the cast and the love she still receives from fans of Joss Whedon’s Firefly, on which she played Inara Serra. Check out what she had to say after the jump: