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Has There Been Any News Re. The New B5 ~2016+~ Theatrical Movie?

KoshN

KoshN

Super Moderator
I never was much interested* in the new B5 theatrical release (remake or reimagining) due to, IMO:

  1. Babylon 5 having been made well enough the first time.
  2. Too much time having passed in the real world (Sept. 1st will mark 16 years since the last ep. of Crusade first aired on TNT.).
  3. Too many original cast members having passed beyond the rim necessitating a large percentage of new cast members and recasting (new actors as original B5 characters and/or original B5 actors as new characters).
  4. Too many false/failed starts (Crusade TV show killed by TNT-Atlanta (the poisonous, spiteful entity that seems to have killed the B5 universe.), Babylon 5: Legend of the Rangers "Sci-Fi Channel Original" backdoor pilot that went nowhere, Babylon 5: The Memory of Shadows script that never got filmed, owned by others and looks like it'll remain under wraps forever, and Babylon 5: The Lost Tales (Voices in the Dark) single, very low budget, DVD release.

...but has there been any news on the latest B5 theatrical release that JMS was going to self-finance with partners (as opposed to crowd funding) for 2016 or so? Has JMS given up on it or pushed it off due to Sense8, etc.?.

Somebody asked on Twitter:

@MacBreck @pinojo please tell me that B5 is being reborn! If so, you made my day!


So, I asked JMS on Twitter and got no response, though I'd have been shocked to get a response from him. Maybe, I committed an affront or slight by asking about B5 at a time he rolling out Sense8 ? Maybe he has me muted. I dunno. <shrug>. I haven't been paying attention to JMS for a long time.

About the only B5 related thing I'd really be interested in, now, is a continuation and completion of Babylon 5: Crusade in novels, and I'm NEVER going to get that because JMS isn't interested.

* However, I would have seen and supported it due to loyalty to B5 (1993-1998) & Crusade (1999).
 
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For some reason last August's article about the announcement at SDCC is making the rounds again as if it were new. Don't know why.

No, there's no news since the announcement. I never really expected any. Sense8 was already in production at the time the announcement was made and filming continued to late October, as I recall, except for some flashback scenes in Iceland that had to wait until there was snow in late December or early January. Then came editing and post-production. So he's been busy.

Hopefully there might be some news at his spotlight panel at SDCC next month. I'll be sure to make the rounds and keep people posted if so.

As for committing an affront...why would you think that? Were you rude? When did you ask? If it was in the last week, the #FreeBabylon5 campaign may have been flooding his feed. I asked people to Tweet Netflix and I noticed that a bunch of people included his Twitter handle in those tweets.

Jan
 
Jan said:
As for committing an affront...why would you think that? Were you rude? When did you ask? If it was in the last week, the #FreeBabylon5 campaign may have been flooding his feed. I asked people to Tweet Netflix and I noticed that a bunch of people included his Twitter handle in those tweets.

Jan
Click to expand...

Tweeted ~1 day ago.

These tweets were in the thread:

@B2Bspecialist @pinojo @straczynski Keep an eye on things at http://t.co/GLNyNSDJfD . I gave up on anything new & good in B5 universe.

and

@B2Bspecialist @pinojo @straczynski IMO, the last good thing in the B5 universe was B5:Crusade. DAMN YOU, TNT.

but I just changed 'em to

@B2Bspecialist @pinojo @straczynski Keep an eye on things at http://t.co/GLNyNSDJfD in B5 Related forum.

and

@B2Bspecialist @pinojo @straczynski IMO, the last good thing in the B5 universe was B5:Crusade. DAMN YOU, TNT-Atlanta.
 
You can change tweets after they've been sent? Isn't that kind of too late? Or did you re-send them?

Just curious...

Jan
 
Jan said:
You can change tweets after they've been sent? Isn't that kind of too late? Or did you re-send them?

Just curious...

Jan
Click to expand...

You can't edit the tweets in twitter, but you can delete them (trashcan symbol), and then put new tweets in their place,

I copy the existing tweets to a new draft email in gmail (It's just a scratchpad area really.), delete the tweets, type the new tweet text in the email draft, go to the place in twitter where I want to put the new tweets, copy and paste the text from the email draft, and then send the new tweets.

The thing is, you have to retweet the tweet you're replying to, so it's sitting in your tweet history so you don't lose it due to scrolling. Otherwise, you lose the place to hang the replacement tweets. Alternately, you can put up the replacement tweets before you delete the old ones.

For this time, I just went to the Photos on my twitter profile page, scrolled across to the B5 & Crusade pictures that were there because they were in mu "Ahem." tweet, clicked on the link to the tweet at the bottom, and went to the thread that way.

Need some Excedrin yet? :LOL:
 
I get migraines so news about tweeting and retweeting untweeting or whatever doesn't bother me. Plus I don't tweet anyway....Facebook takes up way too much of my time. :LOL:

I did see people posting and mentioning a B5 movie in 2016 in the B5 Facebook group that I belong to, but there really wasn't much more than speculation and questions.....not much info given.
 
No real news, but here's what JMS recently said in an interview so apparently the plan is still in place.

N: One last question… What can you tell us about the current status of Babylon 5? Will we see more?

JMS: I still maintain the film rights to Babylon 5, although Warners owns the television rights. I would love to do a feature film in the Babylon 5 universe and kind of reboot that for a larger audience, with a proper budget that we never had on the series. So I’m hoping this year to write a B5 screenplay, and then get it financed at a proper level and then do it in 2016 and reboot the franchise. It couldn’t be a continuation because we’ve lost several actors and not enough folks saw the original. It would be a reboot.
Click to expand...

http://nerdist.com/exclusive-j-michael-straczynski-prepares-us-for-his-netflix-series-sense8/

Jan
 
RW7427 said:
I get migraines so news about tweeting and retweeting untweeting or whatever doesn't bother me. Plus I don't tweet anyway....Facebook takes up way too much of my time. :LOL:

I did see people posting and mentioning a B5 movie in 2016 in the B5 Facebook group that I belong to, but there really wasn't much more than speculation and questions.....not much info given.
Click to expand...

I'm on Twitter many times every day, but I'm almost never on Facebook.
 
Reboot or not I'm really interested in seeing more B5. It's been far too long and I've been going through withdrawal for years. I don't think anything will ever top the original, as the casting was near perfect but I do think JMS will do a good job or else he wouldn't do it.
 
Are there any likely opportunities in 2016 for some announcement on this, perhaps? I was thinking next year might be the year they'd hoped to start production.

Still hoping... :D
 
Hard to tell. JMS has so far talked about it at San Diego Comic-Con for the most part so that's a possibility but that's not until June.

Last night the word came down that JMS will be show-running the 'Red Mars' series based on the Kim Stanley Robinson books for Spike-TV so that may have an effect on timing.

Jan
 
He's always working on so many projects, I have no idea how he keeps up with it all. That's interesting, thanks a lot for the info.
 
I thought I'd bump this up a bit, since I believe San Diego's Comic Con is next Friday, July 22, 2016?

I was wondering if there might be some news on the status of a possible B5 reboot. :bolian:
 
I hope that something does come to fruition but I feel that too much time has now passed and we will likely never see any new babylon 5 content.

Hopefully I am wrong.
 
Yes, that is certainly the practical approach. I was hoping something might be said in the way of an update this Friday.
 
I'll be at JMS' spotlight on Friday afternoon and will be reporting back. First will be over at JMSnews (forums and facebook) then everyplace else.

BTW, since Red Mars was mentioned upthread, it's worth noting that he doesn't seem attached to that anymore and the project's on hold.

Jan
 
Here are the headlines from JMS' spotlight panel at SDCC. As far as the movie goes, the short answer is 'not yet' as JMS is still working up the 'street cred' of his studio in order to attract investors that will put up the hundred million or so needed.
Report on JMS' Spotlight panel at San Diego Comic-Con today:

Headlines:
- JMS had cataracts and Fuchs Corneal Dystrophy for several years but after successful surgery, now has better vision than ever

- There's an upcoming project involving three names: Bradbury, Gaiman and JMS.

- Midnight Nation will be becoming a TV series.

- Rising Stars has been optioned for a feature film.

- While there are still things to be finished up, JMS is leaving comics behind in order to concentrate on novels and plays along with TV and feature films.

- Re: The B5 movie, JMS is working on building his 'street cred' in order to be able to approach investors for over a hundred million dollars. He thinks after another TV show or two and a couple more feature films, he should have achieved that credibility for Studio JMS.

For the longer report, check out the post on the JMSnews forums:

http://jmsnews.com/forums/showpost.php?p=133478&postcount=46
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