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Feature Film without the original cast??

R

ranger32

Member
(I didn't know exactly which forum to post this in, so I posted it in the cast forum as well: )

Can someone confirm this for me? I can swear that I heard Bruce Boxleitner say that WB didn't want the original cast in a feature film! He said this on the Season Two DVD with his audio commentary (along with JD & CC) on a particular episode. He said it so off-handedly that I may have misunderstood what he said. Did anyone else hear that?

If that is so, I think WB is making a mistake. I was hoping for a feature film ever since I read that JMS was thinking about it. It might even bring B5 newfound popularity (much like Star Trek did with their films). But I wouldn't want a movie with anyone other than the original cast. That would suck! Has anyone heard or read anything about a possible big-budget feature film lately?
 
Having just watched this with the commentary yesterday, I don't remember hearing anything like that.

I don't recall the exact wording, but I t hink I may remember what you were thinking of, though. Bruce was talking about some of the feature films that WB did after season 5, and then someone mentioned Crusade and Jerry said "Yah, but that didn't have any of the original cast in it."
 
I find this very unlikely. Usually when a film is made based on a TV show WITHOUT the original actors it is a remake of some sort (see The Fugitive and Charlies Angels for example). The original story (if any) is rehashed and as these movies are often made long after the TV shows go off the air, getting the old cast back is simply not a practical idea.

Clearly no one is going to try and remake the B5 story in movie form. Even as a trilogy (of 3 hour long movies) it wouldn't be able to scratch the surface of the story as told in the TV series. Any movies made based in the B5 world would have to expand on the universe, not rewrite it.

With that in mind using the original cast seems like the best option availible.

Of course you could do a movie based in the B5 universe but centering on other characters but I find it unlikely that they wouldn't want to capitalise on the existing fan appeal towards the characters from the TV show.

So, all in all, I'd have to say that any B5 movie made will almost certainly have at least some of the original cast.

Of course the much bigger question is: will there be a B5 movie? Currently I'm (sadly) rating the chances below 10%
 
I don't think he said that. If I recall, Jerry Doyle at one point says, "I can't believe they cancelled us - we should be going into our... let's see... 10th season now!"

The three of them agree at one point, asking why no one has gotten around to making a feature film yet, because they love it so much.
 
one thing I'm happy to see (and, well, hear of course) is that members of the original cast have participated in audio commentaries and features. At the very least, this should indicate that the orginal cast are still interested in doing work for babylon 5.
 
Okay, I just got a chance to hear it again (they were talking over each other, so it was hard to understand). Here is what they said (more or less):

CC: They should at least make a reunion movie with the original cast.

JD: I want a feature film with the original cast.

BB: They tried to resurrect it (B5) twice and it didn't fly. (Meaning Crusade and LOTR.)

CC: Yeah, but those didn't have the original cast.

Then BB mentioned the TNT movies.

All of that jumbled together in my mind and made me think I heard something else. Sorry for sounding the alarm bells.

I hope that the success of the DVDs will convince WB to make a feature film with the original cast. They could come up with a reason for all of them to reunite on the station temporarily (set a few years after season 5; maybe the return of the Shadows??) so that the last episode (20 years in their future) won't be compromised.
 
Umm, just had to jump in here...

The Shadows will never return. That's pretty set in stone. Shadow tech is still floating around, and somebody might soup up their own ships with it a la the Advanced Destroyers, but the Shadows themselves are gone for good.

Personally, as I've said before, the best idea for a B5 reunion movie would be the Telepath War.
 
I think its quite obvious a movie would be the telepath war, why else would JMS keep it out of the series and books?
 
I know I definitely would be interested in reading/seeing the story of the Telepath War. Lyta has always been one of my favorite characters, as well as a character that I strongly identify with in terms of her relation to society. I think her story arc in the fifth season of B5 is one of my absolute favorite subarcs in the show.
 
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