Why would it be a modest feature? I think Joe's main problem with the way WB handled Lost Tales was that they did go for modest. A lot of the bigger comic book/sci-fi/special effects movies today are budgeted over $100 mil (Thor, Tron Legacy, Cowboys and Aliens), so why not aim big?
So Mr Straczynski... it's now 'after April'...
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And it's also possible he didn't actually need that much, and that was just his primary negotiating figure.
But, yea, he's been forced to put out stuff with too small a budget (The Lost Tales) and the Franchise has suffered for it. He doesn't want to do that to property (or B5's fans) again.
His position has always been that he got to tell the story he wanted to tell (B5 S1-5), and anything else is gravy, but, not necessary, so why compromise anymore on too small a budget, he's tried that route, and the product only suffered for it.
Exactly. The other thing to remember is that JMS isn't some unknown TV writer going in, hat in hand begging for money. These days he's reportedly in the million dollar per script range himself.
Jan
Why not aim big? Because it won't make any fucking money. That's why.
Does anyone really think JMS can frame B5 in the context of a 2 hour film that will bring in the masses like JJ Abrams did with Star Trek? My God, JMS's pitch for Star Trek would've been the final nail in the franchise's coffin.
I'm glad he's raking in the big bucks for his scripts though. He used to not make any money, constantly being ripped off despite being the hardest working man on the planet. Now he can call up Clint Eastwood and go fishing with him whenever he feels like!
Everything B5 related after the original series was crap. He's proven multiple time now that he has nothing interesting left to show in the universe, the actors are dying, the franchise is dead.
JMS would be wise to just leave it be and focus on comic book movie paydays and whooping it up with BFF Clint.
Does anyone really think JMS can frame B5 in the context of a 2 hour film that will bring in the masses like JJ Abrams did with Star Trek? My God, JMS's pitch for Star Trek would've been the final nail in the franchise's coffin.
I'm glad he's raking in the big bucks for his scripts though. He used to not make any money, constantly being ripped off despite being the hardest working man on the planet. Now he can call up Clint Eastwood and go fishing with him whenever he feels like!
Everything B5 related after the original series was crap. He's proven multiple time now that he has nothing interesting left to show in the universe, the actors are dying, the franchise is dead.
JMS would be wise to just leave it be and focus on comic book movie paydays and whooping it up with BFF Clint.
Why not aim big? Because it won't make any fucking money. That's why.
Does anyone really think JMS can frame B5 in the context of a 2 hour film that will bring in the masses like JJ Abrams did with Star Trek? My God, JMS's pitch for Star Trek would've been the final nail in the franchise's coffin.
I'm glad he's raking in the big bucks for his scripts though. He used to not make any money, constantly being ripped off despite being the hardest working man on the planet. Now he can call up Clint Eastwood and go fishing with him whenever he feels like!
Everything B5 related after the original series was crap. He's proven multiple time now that he has nothing interesting left to show in the universe, the actors are dying, the franchise is dead.
JMS would be wise to just leave it be and focus on comic book movie paydays and whooping it up with BFF Clint.
Does anyone really think JMS can frame B5 in the context of a 2 hour film that will bring in the masses like JJ Abrams did with Star Trek? My God, JMS's pitch for Star Trek would've been the final nail in the franchise's coffin.
I'm glad he's raking in the big bucks for his scripts though. He used to not make any money, constantly being ripped off despite being the hardest working man on the planet. Now he can call up Clint Eastwood and go fishing with him whenever he feels like!
Everything B5 related after the original series was crap. He's proven multiple time now that he has nothing interesting left to show in the universe, the actors are dying, the franchise is dead.
JMS would be wise to just leave it be and focus on comic book movie paydays and whooping it up with BFF Clint.
I highly doubt that. That universe told it's story. Babylon 5 on the other hand does have more stories to tell.
I think the half season we got of Crusade was every bit as good and promising as the first 1/2 season of B5 proper. Especially when you look at the unfilmed scripts as well, if Crusade had run a full season, or longer I believe it would've been very good.
The Lost Tales was brutally underfunded, and Legend of the Rangers also was underfunded, and also could've grown into a great series, if it had gone longer.
TMoS Movie, sounded awesome to me, and I think it's a shame the funding for it fell through.
LOL. I love how you folks debate financing of something you don't even know.
This one is common sense. No way would they make a profit on a $100 million movie!
Mr Awe
Yeah, that's entirely impossible.
It was both JMS & Bryce Zabel's pitch BTW, but I'm not sure why his ideas for a Star Trek series would mean anything for what a 2-hour B5 feature film might be.
You can't know that for certain, especially with *zero* knowledge of what the movie might be if one happens (beyond knowing what universe it takes place in). Hollywood isn't that simple to know what's going to profit and what's not, or all of us would be raking in the cash over here and we'd never have films that bomb.
Apples, meet oranges.
The novels didn't sell as well as hoped over ten years ago. Even Star Trek books aren't selling well these days. Publishing in general isn't doing all that hot.
In order to publish more books (or comics), a publisher would have to approach WB and pay a hefty license fee and then find a writer to write the books. WB doesn't go out looking for publishers and JMS couldn't if he wanted to because he doesn't own B5. There's a fan who's approached Dell and Del Ray and they've said they're not interested.
On the other hand, if WB wants to make a movie, all they have to do is make a deal with JMS (who owns the movie rights) and then make it.
I don't have any way of knowing how feasible or profitable a B5 movie would be although the non-blockbuster status of Serenity didn't exactly fill me with confidence. All I know is that I'm glad that JMS drew the line against doing any more b5 on the cheap.
Jan
It is worth pointing out that $35 million isn't small when it comes to the world of Babylon 5. J. Michael Straczynski complained that "The Lost Tales" was an underfunded project (and judging from the look of it, he's right on the mark), but that was because it was budgeted at $2 million. To draw a somewhat unfair comparison (due to inflation, and differences between television and movies), episodes of Babylon 5 were budgeted at around $800,000.
The budget of a film like Serenity is worlds apart from the budget Babylon 5 has ever had to work with
The budget of a film like Serenity is worlds apart from the budget Babylon 5 has ever had to work with
Because it reeked of tired B5 plots and I don't think he has any real ideas on how to make space opera relevant to today's audiences.
You can't know anything for certain, but you can make a decent enough guess. I can't know that picking a random story off the fanfic board and funding it with $200 million wouldn't be the next Avatar, but I'm going to guess it wouldn't.
JMS isn't going to up and reboot the B5 universe, and I see the universe as nothing but baggage when it comes to making a movie that appeals to enough people to turn a profit. The legions of B5 fans clamoring for a feature just aren't there.
Yet somehow people still publish books and make a profit, and are unwilling to take a chance on B5 books. The demand isn't there, whether it's book, film, tv series, or video games doesn't really matter. The root problem is the same.
They aren't interested in some FanFic savior?!? Heavens no!
It's not very clear to me what you're saying. According to you all WB has to do to make B5 books would be to find a publisher and a writer. That sounds easier than cutting a decent deal with JMS over a movie
Yes, he drew the line after junk like Crusade, The Legend of the Orgasmogunners, and The Lost Tales (I think the budget there might have been even less than the disc's MSRP).
Better late than never I guess.
I never would've guessed it was you if you didn't sign in the body of your post. That was a close one.
You know this...how? I sure don't. Is there any reason why he shouldn't?
And yet the DVD's seem to have made a whole lot, don't they?
No, that would have been Mongoose publishing the licensed fan fiction. Obviously I wasn't clear enough. The fan contacted them in order to try to persuade them to publish more B5 novels, not to volunteer to write some.They aren't interested in some FanFic savior?!? Heavens no!
Yep, sure is. Except that's not how WB works. Never have, never will. They don't look for licensees, they wait for the licensee to approach them. For more information on how WB works, you might want to listen to the Babylon Podcast interview with JMS Part one is here and part 2 is here.It's not very clear to me what you're saying. According to you all WB has to do to make B5 books would be to find a publisher and a writer. That sounds easier than cutting a decent deal with JMS over a movie
I don't know what your issue is but if that's all you can snipe about, don't expect me to be upset. Nor to change the way I do things.
Kindest regards,
Jan
Funding status make him write that personalised weapon system scene.
Finding a publisher would not be easy. Speaking from experience, most publishers want to do books based on shows that are still going concerns, not an old show that's been off the air for years.
You want to cash in on a current hit . . . .
Unless you can read his mind, I don't think JMS has ever said he wouldn't. (Actually, I believe in that podcast linked above he says that a next generation or reboot would be something cool to do with B5).
This is an odd way to view things, that somehow by virtue of being in a certain playing field, that it can't possibly appeal to enough people. Again we have no idea of the script that he'd actually write, so it's a fool's game to try and guess whether it would work in the current market or not. The DVDs of the show were profitable; suddenly a movie won't appeal to a big enough audience? It's all woolgathering right now anyway, as we still don't know what exactly is being worked on.
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