Now, with DVD sales I am sure the studio won't end up in the red when all is said and done, but $25 million for a high budget high profile movie is terrible. Serenity will probably be pointed to in the future as a good reason not to use cult DVD followings as a reason to greenlight films. Sorry to tell ya all.

With a production budget of $39 mil, it's definitely on the low end of sci fi movies this year.

War of the Worlds - $132 mil
The Island - $126 mil
Star Wars III = $113 mil
Constantine - $100 mil
Fantastic Four - $100 mil
Doom - $60 mil
Aeon Flux - $50 mil
Hitchhikers Guide - $50 mil
Serenity - $39 mil

And I think few would call it high profile. Every other Sci-Fi movie on the list received far more advertising, etc. Universal played very conservatively both with the production cost and the advertising costs. They wanted to make money, but weren't willing to spend millions advertising it... instead choosing a viral marketing campaign.

It's done decently considering that there was no big advertising push... $36 mil worldwide... it'll make them money.