"Eureka"'s Colin Ferguson and "Firefly"'s Sean Maher Set to Play Gay in "Timing"

Two of the hottest hunks in sci-fi would make an adorable (onscreen) couple.

What happens when Connor (Firefly's Sean Maher) has his marriage proposal to Jesse (Eureka's Colin Ferguson) interrupted by Jesse's heretofore-unknown seventeen-year-old son? That's the question Timing, a new film from Dalliance Films, will attempt to answer.

Keith Sweeney, a producer for Dalliance Films, a Charlotte, N.C. indie film company, spoke with AfterElton.com confirming that Timing is currently in development with pre-production scheduled to start in late winter/early spring. The budget is slated at approximately three million dollars.

Both Ferguson and Maher have signed letters of intent for the project, but offers won't officially be extended until later in the process with hopes that both actors' schedules will allow their participation to take place as planned.

It's not the first time either actor will have starred in roles of gay interest. Ferguson appeared in More Tales of the City as well as the gay-themed The Opposite of Sex. In addition to his starring role on Eureka, Ferguson also had a lead role in the disastrously unfunny, but sexually subversive American version of Coupling.

Classic leading man looks with a touch of goofball.

Besides being almost impossibly handsome as Dr. Simon Tam on Firefly, Sean Maher played the loving-but-repressed partner of John Stamos in the 2006 TV movie Wedding Wars on A&E. The actor has also proven capable of playing parts much more fun than his rather somber Firefly character in guest spots on Drop Dead Diva and Ghost Whisperer.

Sexy and mischievious makes good boyfriend material.

Everything else being equal, the boys will look great together onscreen.

Getting any movie made is a difficult process and after encountering a series of closed doors, Dalliance decided to shoot a trailer for the project to generate interest. After receiving positive feedback for the trailer, Sweeney says they next sent out letters of inquiry to their top five choices for each part including Ferguson for the role of Jesse and Maher as Connor.

Ferguson signed on first and Maher quickly followed which Sweeney says both surprised Dalliance and made them ecstatic. Signing the two actors has also made it easier to keep the development process going, something Sweeney says they have been careful and methodical about.

The project is actually autobiographical for A. Blaine Miller, Dalliance's resident director who is working along with writer D.J. Barton and producer Kathryn Taylor to bring the picture to the big screen. Sweeney explained Blaine had been frustrated with much of the quality of existing gay films, wanted to contribute a quality piece to the genre and believed this particular personal story fit the bill.

Dalliance has a great staff for a personal project.

Dalliance is aiming for a broadly appealing romantic comedy that is a family friendly story. While the story is not "political" or about being gay, it will not shy away from the fact that it is about a same-sex couple. The movie won't treat the gay couple any differently than a straight couple in a romantic comedy. "There will opportunities for the characters to kiss and hold hands and other appropriate things," says Sweeney.

The goal of the film, according to Sweeney, is to have everyone walk away with a close, personal connection to all the characters, and show that all relationships have their ups and downs, their good and bad. Sweeney adds that Dalliance Films believes the time is right for such a movie and that:

The era of Will & Grace [and one gay show on TV] is over with so many soaps having gay characters and so many shows including gay storylines or having out gay actors on them. America is much more accepting and having Colin and Sean take part means an even broader acceptance because they are so popular with their built-in science fiction fan bases.

The project is slated to film in Charlotte, N.C.