Babylon 5 on Blu-Ray?
- Thread starter Candlelight
- Start date
As I've said in other threads, so long as the live action masters still exist, it's "simply" a matter of recreating and re-compositing the digital effects. Well within the bounds of feasibility, it's just a matter of how much it would cost and if WB thinks they'll get a return on the investment. Even the meagre budget of 'The Lost Tales' was enough to re-create enough assets to re-render most of the "stock" establishing and transitional shots and that's probably almost a quarter of the show right there (he said, pulling figures out of his arse), minus rendering time or course.
Probably the most sensible thing for them to do is to remaster one of the TV movies first, either 'The Gathering' (again) or 'In The Beginning' (possibly more likely) to test the waters in terms of sales and see if it can be done to a reasonable budget. Perhaps released as a download only on iTunes or similar to reduce the initial expenditure of manufacturing the discs.
Of course, all of that would still require them to think even that venture might be worth it.
Personally, in my totally unqualified opinion, I think it's only a matter of time. B5 like any IP any studio owns won't earn them anything sat in the vaults. It may take a while for them to get around to it, but they certainly will once the DVD sales look like they're exhausted, if not sooner.
Probably the most sensible thing for them to do is to remaster one of the TV movies first, either 'The Gathering' (again) or 'In The Beginning' (possibly more likely) to test the waters in terms of sales and see if it can be done to a reasonable budget. Perhaps released as a download only on iTunes or similar to reduce the initial expenditure of manufacturing the discs.
Of course, all of that would still require them to think even that venture might be worth it.
Personally, in my totally unqualified opinion, I think it's only a matter of time. B5 like any IP any studio owns won't earn them anything sat in the vaults. It may take a while for them to get around to it, but they certainly will once the DVD sales look like they're exhausted, if not sooner.
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That all sounds like it would be too expensive for Warner Bros. to make the investment. Where's the hook for Warner Bros. to invest the money in redoing all of the visual effects? The only series that has seen this treatment, Star Trek, has many things going for it that Babylon 5 unfortunately does not.
For one, there's been much more of a demand for Star Trek in syndication--I don't think there has ever been a time when I couldn't find it on the air during the week (and I'm only talking about the original series). Babylon 5 has rarely been on television since the series ended. In part because of its treatment by Warner Bros., and in part for other reasons, Babylon doesn't have the fanbase of Star Trek.
Second, Star Trek had a big budget movie that the studio had high expectations for around the corner. Despite some rumblings, there's no Babylon 5 movie around the corner, and if one ever comes to fruition, it is just not going to get the resources provided to J.J. Abrams.
Third, Babylon 5 would require a much greater number of visual effects than Star Trek needed, and many of these shots are much more complicated than anything completed for Star Trek remastered. Only in terms of episodes, Star Trek only had 80 (counting The Cage) while Babylon 5 had 110, plus six movies. That's a lot more money.
Finally, since it's an arc-based series, Babylon 5 would have to be remastered in order. Star Trek remastered was able to balance effects heavy episodes with effects light episodes because the series was very episodic and could be enjoyed out of order.
I hope that I'm wrong. But those are awfully big hurdles for the kind of work (and budget) needed for Blu-Ray releases of the show to go forward.
For one, there's been much more of a demand for Star Trek in syndication--I don't think there has ever been a time when I couldn't find it on the air during the week (and I'm only talking about the original series). Babylon 5 has rarely been on television since the series ended. In part because of its treatment by Warner Bros., and in part for other reasons, Babylon doesn't have the fanbase of Star Trek.
Second, Star Trek had a big budget movie that the studio had high expectations for around the corner. Despite some rumblings, there's no Babylon 5 movie around the corner, and if one ever comes to fruition, it is just not going to get the resources provided to J.J. Abrams.
Third, Babylon 5 would require a much greater number of visual effects than Star Trek needed, and many of these shots are much more complicated than anything completed for Star Trek remastered. Only in terms of episodes, Star Trek only had 80 (counting The Cage) while Babylon 5 had 110, plus six movies. That's a lot more money.
Finally, since it's an arc-based series, Babylon 5 would have to be remastered in order. Star Trek remastered was able to balance effects heavy episodes with effects light episodes because the series was very episodic and could be enjoyed out of order.
I hope that I'm wrong. But those are awfully big hurdles for the kind of work (and budget) needed for Blu-Ray releases of the show to go forward.
I can't say as I disagree with any of that, but I stand by my assertion that it's just a matter of time and money and the willingness to spend them. It all hinges on what they think the DVDs sales will be.
Of course anything we say here is just guess work. The only way to form an educated opinion is to look at the figures for sales for the season sets and compare it to the seasonal vfx budgets for shows like Stargate, BSG, Caprica, etc. That'll give you at least a rough idea as to how plausible it could be.
As for the issues with syndication, Firstly I think these days DVDs are a greater source of revenue. Still, I think that if WB do remaster the series then they'll have more reason to push to sell the show to recoup their investment. Plus, as of right now there's not that much HD content in terms of old TV series so I think the handful of HD channels out there would be eager to purchase it. I mean come on, B5 may not be as "big" as Star Trek (how could it? Star Trek had a 30 year, 7 movie and 2 TV show head-start) but it's hardly unpopular or obscure. The fact that the Lost Tales DVD stayed on amazon's top 10 best seller's list for bloody weeks when it came out proves there's still plenty of interest out there.
Of course anything we say here is just guess work. The only way to form an educated opinion is to look at the figures for sales for the season sets and compare it to the seasonal vfx budgets for shows like Stargate, BSG, Caprica, etc. That'll give you at least a rough idea as to how plausible it could be.
As for the issues with syndication, Firstly I think these days DVDs are a greater source of revenue. Still, I think that if WB do remaster the series then they'll have more reason to push to sell the show to recoup their investment. Plus, as of right now there's not that much HD content in terms of old TV series so I think the handful of HD channels out there would be eager to purchase it. I mean come on, B5 may not be as "big" as Star Trek (how could it? Star Trek had a 30 year, 7 movie and 2 TV show head-start) but it's hardly unpopular or obscure. The fact that the Lost Tales DVD stayed on amazon's top 10 best seller's list for bloody weeks when it came out proves there's still plenty of interest out there.
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