Rumour has it that Universal, upon green lighting Joss Whedon's "Serenity" feature film, also had in mind the same gimmick than "The Matrix", "Van Helsing" or "Chronicles Of Riddick": Doing an animated prequel to go straight to DVD just before releasing the big feature. They were apparently serious enough to commission a script from Whedon and writer Brett Mathews (who worked on the Riddick prequel "Dark Fury").

Sadly enough, the project fell through, and the prequel idea got scrapped. The story thought up by Whedon and Matthews was however interesting enough to attract the comic book community.

Now comes word from SilverBullett that publisher Dark Horse is close to signing Matthews to create a mini series based on his story. No word yet on a release schedule, but should the project indeed happen, expect Universal to get involved and help things get through in time for their "Serenity" release.