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Babylon 5 to return?
ryan218
Member Posts: 36,106 Arc User
So, apparently at San Diego Comic Con, Joe Michael Staczynski, the original creator of Babylon 5, writer of several runs of the Thor comics and writer for the two Thor films, announced that he was hoping to develop a new Babylon 5 feature film (article here) to be filmed in 2016. Apparently, he hopes to get members of the original cast to fill sort of cameos in this reboot, such as Bruce Boxleitner.
Usually, I'd be cautious about the key word; reboot, but since this is JMS, I trust him to be faithful to his own creation. I also wouldn't blame him for changing things, since this is a reboot.
He's said he hopes Warner Brothers will fund the film (hah!) but that his own studio can fund it if necessary.
I have to say, I'm somewhat optimistic. Babylon 5 was my favourite Science Fiction series and I would love to see it erected with modern-day CGI.
So, what are your opinions? Are you excited, terrified or indifferent?
Usually, I'd be cautious about the key word; reboot, but since this is JMS, I trust him to be faithful to his own creation. I also wouldn't blame him for changing things, since this is a reboot.
He's said he hopes Warner Brothers will fund the film (hah!) but that his own studio can fund it if necessary.
I have to say, I'm somewhat optimistic. Babylon 5 was my favourite Science Fiction series and I would love to see it erected with modern-day CGI.
So, what are your opinions? Are you excited, terrified or indifferent?
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The 'battle of Coriana VI' would be awesome with new CGI, or the 'Shadow dancing battle'. Because of CGI limitations the omega class destroyers couldn't use their missile silos and Gigton mine launchers. It's also why we never saw a Vorlon planet killer fire.
So much was missing from Babylon 5... I hope they don't hold back.
I love B5 dearly, but it's very much a product of its time, and IMO should be laid to rest where it is. Since the end of the series (arguably since the end of Season 4), we've had a series of diminishing returns through Crusade, Legend of the Rangers, and Lost Tales. JMS's output over the last decade or so has been pretty inconsistent in terms of quality.
Too many original cast members are dead: Michael O'Hare, Richard Biggs, Andreas Katsulas, Jeff Conaway.
Honestly, I'd rather just see a remastered version of the series, especially if they could fix up those FX shots which they lost the original film for.
Barring that...let it go.
If its like the rangers series or Excalibur :meh:
In fact a Psi corps spin off could be cool if they could focus in that direction.
Still waiting to be able to use forum titles
i cant say i would like to see a reboot of the series, you cant replace the likes of andy katsulas, richard briggs, jeffery conaway and michael o'hare who all did incredible performances to the show, its what drove babylon 5 so well, is the acting, all of them could put the effort in so well that most sci-fi series cant seem to pull off correctly let alone the humorous elements and some absurdies like racing a minbari powersource installed in classic motorbike through a hall on the station or zathras. in any case, it was always put together well and it worked well.
i would hate for mjs to end up causing the end of his own franchise by making an inferior version.
however, the media usually take things out of context because this roboot idea is floating around hollywood right now and expect this to be just "another brick in the wall". it may not be a reboot but rather a possible follow on to another series set elsewhere in the b5 universe since such little was known about it.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Keep in mind, this is a reboot. And since it's a film, I suspect it will be limited in scope to the first two or so series.
That being said, I think this could be absolutely phenomenal if he can pull it off.
Well, an important thing here is that he is using a new cast, but hoping to bring old members in for cameo roles, so Boxleitner would not be playing Sheridan.
Also, JMS's last to Thor films were both incredible IMO, and with the recent resurgence of (good) Sci-Fi movies, I think this is as good a time as we're going to get for a B5 reboot.
Keep in mind, TNT and WB took more control over Crusade - JMS wasn't even the writer for most of it. LotR was a low-budget pilot which WB had little faith in to begin with, and TLT was a pilot for a new series which had a reduced budget. Sci-Fi wasn't too popular anymore and it was essentially an experiment; WB did not put in as much as they could have.
In this case, I think it is possible that the film could be really good. I'm very excited.
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
JMS got a Story credit on the first Thor movie, but he didn't write it. And he had nothing to do with the sequel.
When I referred to his recent spotty work, I was mostly referring to his comics, which have varied from pretty good to terrible.
Edit:
The article linked says that the franchise could be rebooted as a film, but indicates that the film itself would be in-continuity: Edit: I was wrong/clueless about this...
It goes on to say that Warner has not greenlit the film, and that if they don't he'll find a way to fund it himself. This likely means some kind of crowdfunding, which...well, we'll see.
You'll notice it says 'Earth Alliance' instead of 'Interstellar Alliance'. I found another article which said it would be a reboot. http://www.tvwise.co.uk/2014/08/babylon-5-movie-eyes-2016-production-start/
They'd be in different roles from the sounds of that.
I'll have to recheck the Thor films; I was sure he was at least on the creative team for the first one, but it has been a while since I saw it...
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
Derp. You're right - reading comprehension was not my friend on that one.
As I said, JMS has a story credit on the first Thor (he was also writing the comic around the time the movie was filmed), but the screenplay credit went to Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, and Don Payne. He also had a cameo.
He has no credit on The Dark World.
then there's the side bits that JMS didn't originally feel like showing us at all.... like the Dilgar wars.
My character Tsin'xing
Ah, okay. I know his name came up very early in the closing credits, so if it was a 'created by'-type credit, then that does fit.
Where was his cameo, out of curiosity?
True, and I think that's part of B5's appeal; it has this massive lore that we just don't know much about - like the Dilgar.
We'll have to see what happens...
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
He was one of the guys trying to lift Mjolnir from the crater in the desert. As I recall, he was the first to try, though I may be misremembering.
The fact that B5 had stuff that we never saw is actually a good thing, for me.
In my opinion, having stuff like the Dilgar War, or the Mars Riots, or the terrorist nuking of San Diego as part of the background, but never fully shown, helped to make the universe seem a little more "real" and lived-in.
i love B5 but it had such a tight story that im not sure how you reboot it. i cant imagine it would be the same story rehashed but with better effects. it would surely have to be set after and deal with the later stages of what was mentioned on screen.
the telepath wars, fighting the drakh etc.
*Glares at Battlestar Galactica and SG:U*
Like I said, I'm skeptical, too, but for the sake of argument...
If the reboot were to happen, I'd like to see more realistic dialogue from most of the characters. Looking back, the original series was filled with purple prose, and I think there's room for improvement on the overall stylistic front.
Save the flowery language for the Minbari.
*scoffs at the notion of either of those being "today's shows"*
I agree with the sentiment that there's too much grimdark out there, but that type of storytelling has its place, especially when its done well.
Battlestar Galactica did it extremely well.
In my opinion, Stargate Universe did it pretty well too, though it was a bit of a tonal whiplash from SG1 and Atlantis. I personally welcomed the change, as I found Atlantis to be too much of an SG1 clone and was grateful for something different.
Just like they did with Classic Trek.
Then let him create a new story but in the same universe.
:cool:
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
SG:U was almost BSG with a Stargate. It was getting a bit better by having some humor to break up the tension, but it came too late. I was looking forward to SG:U but it deviated way too much from its predessors apparently.
SG-1 and Atlantis used humor to break up the tension, and so did Babylon 5 and Firefly.
I think those individuals would have a pretty warped understanding of what a soap opera is.
Like BSG, soap operas are serialized stories, but that's basically where the similarities end.
I would also argue that BSG had its share of humour, albeit a different sort of humour than the other shows you mentioned.
Why, oh why a reboot ? There's little he could do to improve on the original. This is JMS doing a George Lucas, right ?
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
Oh don't get me wrong: it was dark. Bleak, even. And I don't begrudge you if that's not your cup of tea.
And like I said, I agree that not every show should be like that.
But that's okay, as it would be hard to top the series. So I'd relaunch with a revamped "In the Beginning".
- Lots of pew pew (imagine a modern cgi Battle of the Line)
- Introduces the core storyline
- Reasonable to cast relatively young
- Can use an aged Mollari
- Good place to potentially introduce a few rewrites/tweaks
- Focuses the script to a war story, easy to sell and connect with for the uninitiated
- Can cast only a portion of the main cast, allowing for funds to be concentrated on the leads
I can't think of a better starting point. Make it a ten movie series lol.
I've read the B5 mirror fan fiction, it was excellent, but that will never get produced.
I dunno, for me B5 kinda lost something when the enigmatic Vorlons and First Ones decide to vacate the galaxy.
Actually, I think it was the opposite.
The way I understand it, they were nearly cancelled during Season 4, so they wrapped up the Shadow War and Earth civil war earlier than expected that left them with extra episodes that they had to pad out Season 5 with when they were unexpectedly renewed.
Of course, padded episodes are the least of Season 5's problem *cough*Byron*cough*.
Also... there's that loose thread that is the Thirdspace Aliens. Are they looking for another way into our universe?