More Babylon 5

[Admiral_Young]

As I said he was replying to a post on his facebook wall. His first comment was that the only thing he would consider doing in the B5 universe would be a feature length film because it would give him the amount of creative control needed to tell the story he wanted to tell. He wasn't satisfied with the Lost Tales DVD and would not pursue that type of venture again. He was then asked another question to which he cryptically and as I pointed out maybe sarcastically pointed out to ask him again next April.

There was absolutely NO reason for AICN to "report" this since this wasn't even freaking news. He was replying to someone's question on his facebook page lol. Wow. This is one of the things I hate about so-called internet journalism...they'll go with basically anything when there's very little there. It's not like Joe even elaborated on his commented or anything.

He's also not sitting on his hands doing nothing. He's currently engaged in writing the sequel to "Superman: Earth One" (he posted that several pages are done already) and that he'd finished writing a bunch of other things.

 

[Harvey]

I'm not sure AICN is exactly near the top tier of anyone's idea of internet "journalism." They are a site run by fanboys that post gossip and rambling reviews.

And, yeah, JMS was probably being sarcastic. The idea that a BABYLON 5 movie has a theatrical life outside of a radical remake at this point is fantasy.

 

[FalTorPan]

I know he's said the only way we'll ever see it again is if it's a real movie, but maybe somebody can foot the bill for something decent. Let's face it - Lost Tales was disappointing. They should have stayed lost.

There's no way that a big screen movie is going to draw the audience that it needs, so I don't know what is up his sleeve.

I enjoyed The Lost Tales, and I was looking forward to more of them. Oh well.

 

[RJDiogenes]

He's crazy. The only way he'll get a bockbuster movie budget is if they turn it into an adolescent explosion-fest like nuTrek. Direct-to-DVD is the perfect venue for something like B5 (or Trek); a modest budget and genuine storytelling aimed at the niche audience who appreciates the concept.

Masterpiece Theater doesn't exactly work with Lucas bucks.

 

[Admiral_Young]

He never said that he was working a feature film....only that that medium would be the only way that he would return to Bablyon 5 on screen.

 

[Jan]

The rumblings that there might be something up in the B5 'verse started last month when JMS appeared at New York Comic-Con. Without actually transcribing (because my recorder is temporarily AWOL), what he said was essentially:

- He reminded the audience that he'd told WB not to call him with any more low-budget projects, that the only projects he'd be interested in would be a big-budget movie or a properly funded TV show where he had creative control. He basically repeated this on his FB page:

You must understand that when I did B5 initially, it was never with the intention of creating a never-ending franchise. My goal was to tell a five year story as cleanly as possible, get in and get out. It was only after kind of falling in love with that universe that I opted to try and expand it. But that aside...if nothing else ever happened, that story would be up and on the shelf, and nothing can ever change that. We did what we set out to do.

I have no interest in doing any more low-budget DVDs because they don't allow me to tell the story way it needs to be told. The only thing(s) that could bring me back would be either a big-budget feature or a full TV series where I have the kind of creative control I need.
November 24 at 6:54pm

- That Warner's had called him recently about something along those lines but he didn't know where it might go or even if it might go anywhere.

It's worth noting that JMS holds the movie rights to Babylon 5, not WB.

Jan

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yes that's the post I was referring to before, where the ask me again in April appears in response a couple posts down from that.

 

[Leroy]

Who holds the TV rights for B5? I would rather have another series than a feature length theatrical release. A theatrical big budget B5 movie is pretty much impossible when your source material is an obscure mid 90's outer space TV show. When was the last time they tried something similar? Firefly? We all know painfully well how Serenity did box office wise (thoughts on the films quality aside).

 

[Jan]

Warner Bros. owns B5 - TV, books, comics, merchandising...everything but the feature film rights. So, for example, when JMS wanted to write the short stories for the B5 magazine, he had to have WB's permission.

When it comes to a feature though (and this is something that JMS said (paraphrasing)), if he had an idea for a film and WB didn't want to finance/distribute it, JMS could go across the street to another studio and offer it to them.

Jan

 

[bigdaddy]

Warner Bros. owns B5 - TV, books, comics, merchandising...everything but the feature film rights. So, for example, when JMS wanted to write the short stories for the B5 magazine, he had to have WB's permission.

When it comes to a feature though (and this is something that JMS said (paraphrasing)), if he had an idea for a film and WB didn't want to finance/distribute it, JMS could go across the street to another studio and offer it to them.

Jan

I don't understand why he only owns the film rights, that's pretty damn stupid.

 

[Meredith]

I would like Babylon 5 in any form as long as the story is up to snuff.

 

[Jan]

I don't understand why he only owns the film rights, that's pretty damn stupid.

Because when you sell a show to a studio, particularly when it's your first as B5 was for JMS, it's a buyer's market. The only reason they let JMS have the movie rights is because they never figured they'd be worth anything.

Jan

 

[Booji]

As long as JMS can come up with a good story, I'm all for a new series or even a movie. I believe an earlier poster mentioned using book 1 of the Psi Core trilogy as the basis for a flick. i would have to agree! It would work great since it's more or less a stand alone story and there are no B5 regulars in it (except Kosh). regardless, gonna keep my fingers crossed

 

[Captaindemotion]

Warner Bros. owns B5 - TV, books, comics, merchandising...everything but the feature film rights. So, for example, when JMS wanted to write the short stories for the B5 magazine, he had to have WB's permission.

When it comes to a feature though (and this is something that JMS said (paraphrasing)), if he had an idea for a film and WB didn't want to finance/distribute it, JMS could go across the street to another studio and offer it to them.

Jan

I don't understand why he only owns the film rights, that's pretty damn stupid.

It's pretty damn standard. Joss Whedon owned the movie rights to Firefly/ Serenity but Fox owned the tv rights, including the name Firefly. That's why the movie is called Serenity.

 

[bigdaddy]

The only reason they let JMS have the movie rights is because they never figured they'd be worth anything.

Jan

I think they figured correctly.

 

[RAMA]

I'd go for a Babylon 5 movie on the big screen with a $100 million budget.

RAMA

 

[Harvey]

I'd go for a Babylon 5 movie on the big screen with a $100 million budget.

RAMA

With the existing cast? It'll never happen. THE MEMORY OF THE SHADOWS was the last chance this franchise (unless it is rebooted) had of a theatrically-distributed feature film, and it was a long-shot before it fell apart due to the financiers.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Would I be incorrect in assuming that fans would still want to see a full fledged Telepath War as a feature film? I don't think that Joe would actually write something like this now but I know that this is something that I've always wanted to see. I know we've had tid bits about it and know the fate of some characters post TP war but to actually see a two hour epic would be interesting. I didn't like the premise of "Memory of Shadows" despite the fact that I would still love to read it as a novel.

 

[Reverend]

Now see, I'm not sure I would want see a full fledged telepath war movie. For one it'd be damn hard to get even a sketchy overview of the conflict and even tougher to make anyone care without some sort of context. As I said before, a mini-series type format would be much better for this kind of material. You have the time to let the story breath and get a sense for the world, the setup and the players. Just dropping right into it and out again n two hours total runs the risk of it either being a mindless action romp or some sallow introspective box show. I doubt either option would be very appealing.

In the Beginning got away with it because 1) The Earth-Minbari War was conventional; i.e. "humans vs. aliens" 2) the show was still on air at the time so most everyone that saw it knew the show already and thus knew the characters and at least a basic grasp of the world.
From what little has been revealed between the books, one short story and Crusade, the Telepath War was more like a guerilla insurgency, but pretty much limited to the (Garibaldi funded) resistance fighting Psi Corps. As such as much of the war was probably fought with information as with PPGs. IIRC it's not even clear if Earthforce or the Alliance even got directly involved. So while you can certainly tell "a story" set against the backdrop of the war in a single movie, I'm not so sure you can give even a basic overview of the war itself in that format AND have it be entertaining. More to the point, I can't see anyone funding it.

I think the intention was to use Crusade (Matheson, specifically) to trickle out details of the conflict piecemeal, probably over the course of several seasons. As such I'm even less inclined to believe that a by the numbers chronological narrative would be very interesting. Bottom line; it dosen't matter what the story is if nobody cares about the characters.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Hmmm....a mini-series is something I've not considered before but I think would work with how B5 is structured as a story.