Firefly 2012 (Mal's new holster?) - A new series that never happened

[Voyager398]

So....I was poking around on leatherworker.net and ran across this old post. I thought I would share as this was intriguing and since we can never get enough Firefly universe material. This is pretty much the entire post with no further pictures posted. I think I just found another project that I do not have time for. Enjoy!

 

[Tommy]

An interesting idea, and very cool if true... though consider me (for the moment) mildly skeptical absent further evidence.

First to clarify timing, while the above Leatherworker post was published in 2012, the period it seems to reference would have to be 2005/2006, as Joss Whedon departed Wonder Woman in very early 2007. He certainly had a Serenity sequel of some form in mind, but all of his public statements were pretty wishful, and I'm not aware of any solid confirmation of serious studio interest at the time (either Universal for a film continuation or Fox for a TV series resurrection) beyond essentially vague rumor. [Anyone by all means correct if I'm wrong.]

The maker attribution is at least accurate; Ugo Serrano (who apparently worked on Firefly and/or Serenity space helmets via Global Effects) posted a photo of the same pistol build unholstered on his Instagram in 2017 and in 2021, albeit without specific mention of a pre-production context:

The 2017 caption was edited in 2021 to be identical to the new post, so it doesn't lend anything additional apart from a reply to a query as to whether both were his work: "no just the top one the bottom one is a prop from the show the client borrowed."

Note that the build reference is Firefly-style, rather than Serenity-style, yet the build incorporates a clearly Serenity-reminiscent magazine. Considering that Joss was still cooperating with Universal at this point, with the Collector's Edition DVD released in late 2007, I would expect a Joss-involved project to have been with Universal. Why not a Serenity-style reference, then? Plus, while a sequel story was eventually released in 2014 in the form of a comic book Leaves on the Wind, its writing was principally credited to Joss's brother Zack, suggesting Joss never got all that far along.

So it's not impossible this was an original prototype, and I'd love to see corroboration, but it strikes me as surprising that development would have reached the props stage. If I had to bet at present, I'd say this makes more sense as a fun private commission.

 

[Entropy]

The bit under the barrel reminds me somewhat of a LeMat. Between that and the shape of the trigger guard, it's almost like Mal's pistol and Jayne's pistol "Boo" had a baby.

 

[Voyager398]

Thank you for the additional information and context! It was very satisfying to see something at least new to me in the realm of the Firefly universe.

I know I've had some concepts in mind of creating a carbine version of Mal's pistol, but the time hasn't been there. It was just great to see something new.

 

[Tommy]

Thank you for the additional information and context! It was very satisfying to see something at least new to me in the realm of the Firefly universe.

No question it's a creative design in any case, and worth bringing up; I can't recall coming across it. You might try reaching out to Serrano and see if he's willing to shed light on the mystery. It can be a hit-or-miss research method, but sometimes it yields a quick answer.

The bit under the barrel reminds me somewhat of a LeMat. Between that and the shape of the trigger guard, it's almost like Mal's pistol and Jayne's pistol "Boo" had a baby.

A "LeMal"

 

[Dr Jones Sr]

OP photo, just a practical thing, the corner of one of those rectangular metal ornamental plates might scratch the heck out of the pistol's nice wood grip, when worn.

 

[Sundowner]

I'm very skeptical. I like the holster a lot but the pistol looks cobbled together with parts laying around in my opinion.

 

[Voyager398]

Ok, I received a response from Ugo. Mystery solved.

"Hi! Yes, I made that gun, the client came to me with a metal case which had one of Mal’s guns in it(not the hero but a metalized urethane one) and said make me something that would come from this world and provided a donor gun, I think the same kind they used as a made for Mal’s. That was a fun build, somewhere there’s pics of the whole thing.. I even made these little energy ammo clips that would snap in like a magazine would . It was for a collector, not for production."

 

[Tommy]

Voyager398 Glad to hear it; very kind of Ugo to facilitate a rare conclusive answer to a prop mystery. I imagine the holster-maker simply assumed a production purpose since Ugo worked in the industry.

Thanks for sharing the resolution!

 

[Voyager398]

Yes, we had a great conversation. He's a really cool guy! I was very appreciative that he responded.