So Mr Straczynski... it's now 'after April'...
- Thread starter Candlelight
- Start date
And in the very first shot of Babylon 5 ever aired.
The lens flare in the latest Trek movie is now where near as consistent as fans complain about. Yes it's there but it also isn't as distracting as those same critics say.
It's there constant in every scene on the bridge. There is no relief whatsoever on the bridge
The lens flare in Trek didn't bother me a bit.
No, the fact is that a theatrical release is perhaps the most possible because JMS owns the movie rights to B5. As he said in one of his appearances, that means the if he were to come up with a story he really wanted to tell as a feature film he could do so, with or without WB's authorization or financing.
I'm not making any guess that a feature film is what's under discussion but it's very definitely possible.
Jan
Depends on what kind of budget range you're talking about. A relatively low to mid-range budgeted picture for example would obviously be a lot easier to sell to a given studio than say a triple-A summer tent-pole script. It's just a matter of shopping it around and see who wants to buy it. Given the kind of subject matter JMS prefers and the level of creative control he's likely to insist on the former option seams the more likely of the two.
But again this is all theoretical and the spoo still hasn't hatched yet. Still, let's be honest there's a very limited number of things it could be if he's being this careful with raising hopes.
But again this is all theoretical and the spoo still hasn't hatched yet. Still, let's be honest there's a very limited number of things it could be if he's being this careful with raising hopes.
You might be right if B5 were all that JMS was known for as was once true. These days he's *far* better known among the decision makers at the studios than was the case prior to his sale of "Changeling". Now when he goes to meetings he's talking to people who can actually give him a yes or no, not some development drone several levels lower. In addition, he can easily point to the making of B5 and Jeremiah and show that he can create something special and still come out under budget (though it's obvious that he won't go for any more 'let's test the waters and then we'll talk more money projects) *and* he can point to the DVD's grossing over half a billion dollars.
The odds are far better now than they were when the unknown entities weren't able to find financing for TMoS.
Last May JMS said at the Orange County Screenwriter's event that the budget figure he told WB he'd require for a B5 feature was one hundred million dollars. They told him to let them know when he wanted to discuss doing it.
Jan
I'd go to that movie in a second, but I have significant doubts that JMS could wrangle that amount of money for a Babylon 5 theatrically distributed feature film.
^ I've my doubts as well but a feature film still is the only thing I could think of that would merit this level of secrecy from Joe. If it was something else lesser than i think he would have told us already.
It's *always* up to the studio to make any official announcement and JMS has never gone against that although his announcement often come very soon on the heels of a press release. It took at least four months longer than JMS had estimated before 'Jeremiah' was officially announced.
Jan
^ Yep, agreed.
To be honest, I'm lukewarm on anyBabylon 5 revival, whether it be a theatrical movie or a new television series or a DVD series. As much as I enjoyed the show during its original run, I find myself enjoying the first two-and-half seasons more lately than when the series got bogged down in its metastory and in JMS's singular writer's voice.
Babylon 5 has the potential, however, to bring about a revival of the anthology. It's the perfect setting to do so. If B5 returns to television, I'd rather see something that's less dependent on arc storytelling and more about the smaller, personal stories that happen on the station. It would also allow for other voices to play in the environment, much like in the first two seasons.
I've also become less enamored with JMS's writing over the years, especially his work with Superman.
Babylon 5 has the potential, however, to bring about a revival of the anthology. It's the perfect setting to do so. If B5 returns to television, I'd rather see something that's less dependent on arc storytelling and more about the smaller, personal stories that happen on the station. It would also allow for other voices to play in the environment, much like in the first two seasons.
I've also become less enamored with JMS's writing over the years, especially his work with Superman.
I hope it isn't a rehash of TMoS. He needs to let the stolen alien tech storyline go.
^That's the thing though, in the B5 universe, unless you want to do a political intrigue or a small contained story, any "big threat" either has to come from something very old (read: First Ones and their legacy) or something brand new...which just isn't as interesting. Aside from that, scavenging old alien tech is a (for want of a better term) recurring motif on B5, always has been. From Syria Planum to the techno-mages, IPX and even Psi Corps, that thread runs throughout most of the main stories, even if it's often in the background.
A nice idea but the problem with anthologies has always been that it's difficult to retain viewers or attract new ones without some kind of gimmick or unifying theme. Shows like Twilight Zone and Outer Limits traded on the outright bizarre and fantastical tales so it didn't matter if every week you have to meet a new cast and have them tell a new story. I suppose you could class Quantum Leap as an anthology too in that sense, but that only worked because it was the same two characters at the core of every story, even if the individual stories had nothing directly to do with them. I can't see either of those approaches working for B5.
I'm not saying it's not possible and hey, it could be done well and with some quality storytelling...but I don't see many studios or networks going for it and I can't see a modern audience sticking with it for long. Besides, if you want to make an anthology series, an existing IP probably isn't the way to go (at least not when that IP is a 90's sci-fi show.) Probably better to start with something fresh or do another reboot of Twilight Zone or Outer Limits.
A nice idea but the problem with anthologies has always been that it's difficult to retain viewers or attract new ones without some kind of gimmick or unifying theme. Shows like Twilight Zone and Outer Limits traded on the outright bizarre and fantastical tales so it didn't matter if every week you have to meet a new cast and have them tell a new story. I suppose you could class Quantum Leap as an anthology too in that sense, but that only worked because it was the same two characters at the core of every story, even if the individual stories had nothing directly to do with them. I can't see either of those approaches working for B5.
I'm not saying it's not possible and hey, it could be done well and with some quality storytelling...but I don't see many studios or networks going for it and I can't see a modern audience sticking with it for long. Besides, if you want to make an anthology series, an existing IP probably isn't the way to go (at least not when that IP is a 90's sci-fi show.) Probably better to start with something fresh or do another reboot of Twilight Zone or Outer Limits.
Something alone the lines of Thirdspace would be fine for me. It's a stand alone set within the main arc that is fine if you miss it and also works well if you haven't seen much of the preceding material.
I still like the analogy to World War 2. It begins with Austria being annexed and ends with the H-bomb (more or less). What happens in between is full of arc and stand alones, or any arc point can be blown out to full blown movie which can stand by itself (Pearl Harbor, the Dambusters, etc).
That's an interesting and [I think] appropriate analogy... but as an historical nitpicker, I'd say the war actually began with the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. That's why China was the first nation to sign the UN Charter.
I like to think of the 1936 Spanish Civil War as a dress rehearsal, if not the outright starting point.
Some people go as far as calling WWI and WWII one big event, with the Treaty of Versailles being the fuze that burned between outright fighting.
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