This was put up on Bleeding Cool a little while ago. The original reporter is trying to get things confirmed. This seems weird, because I haven't seen it been picked up elsewhere yet, which something of this magnitude would be. http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/07/13/a-reboot-of-firefly-joss-and-the-science-channel-say-“yes”/
Also..."planned Firefly reunion movie"? What? LOL. I have to admit this has taken me aback. I still haven't seen this picked up anywhere.
The reporter in the article does note that Whedon seemed to be very serious, and not his usual snarky sarcastic self...but it's very possible she misinterpreted it. If the latter turns out to be the case then this is only going to add to Bleeding Cool's negative reputation lol. I honestly really hesitated in posting it but it was too fascinating and confusing not to!
Okay I found this...didn't see any mention of a "planned movie" or "reboot" in this coverage. http://collider.com/comic-con-firefly-reunion/178648/
I've read three or four different accounts of that Firefly panel on other entertainment sites, none of them mention a reboot of the show. But they do mention that those lines about Zac Efron and the Wash and Book conversation were jokes and not to be taken seriously.
This seems like a major fail on Bleeding Cool's part lol. More panel coverage and it looks like the one bit of legit news from the panel is that Dark Horse will be doing post "Serenity" comics showing what happened to the crew after the film ended. http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/07/13/comic-con-joss-whedon-browncoats-firefly-reunion/
Sounds like it was just Joss being his trademark sarcastic self. Joss did break down and cry when asked by the moderator what the shows fans meant to him. Here is an update where the reporter stands by her original report, but states that one of her colleagues disagrees with her. http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/07/13/a-reboot-of-firefly-joss-and-the-science-channel-say-“yes”/
Outside of comics, Johnston's site isn't very reliable. He is also bordering on stalking in some of his entertainment coverage.
Buffy and Angel probably did more location shooting than Firefly. After all, on a weekly basis they have some outdoors fighting vampires. Not to mention monsters/demons of the week can jack the budget up for an episode. Firefly was mostly restricted to studio filming. While there was location shoots, I think they probably had less in their 15 episodes than any given 15 episode block of Buffy or Angel. Plus, there were no monsters/demons of the week on Firefly. You had space exteriors in CGI to do, but that is comparitvely cheaper. For similar reasons, BSG was a much cheaper show than Caprica.
Leave it to fans to get 99% of irony or sarcasm in their life but when it concerns their passion they will believe anything that comes out of a mouth no matter how insane it is I'm just looking forward to see the panel on Youtube once someone has recovered enough from Comic Con to post it and otherwise wait for the Reunion Special to air in November.
This Bleeding Cool "reporter" fails on one big count in particular - 20th Century Fox Television still owns the television rights to the Firefly name and characters. Joss wouldn't be able to do a "reboot" on the Science Channel, or any other channel, without first acquiring those rights, and it seems unlikely 20th would sell. The reunion documentary has been under discussion here. It's about damn time. This is exactly what I've wanted since Dark Horse first started publishing Serenity comics. That said, the prequel comics have been a disappointment, so I hope these post-movie comics step up their game.