JMS at SDCC - B5 News?!?

[Ubik]

Update from JMS on his upcoming panel at SDCC:

“Preview for my next Twilight Zone issue, out Wednesday. Also: expect some cool announcements at my Saturday spotlight at SDCC 5:30 room 7AB. Maybe some cool TV news, maybe some interesting film news...who knows, I may even have something B5 related to discuss...who can say? Let's just say you don't want to miss this”.

NOTE the ‘B5 related’… I wonder…

I’m guessing it’s that re-mastered ‘sock puppet’ version of B5 we’ve all been waiting for.

 

[Springer]

The last time he had a B5 announcement at a convention I think it was to tell the story of Michael O'Hare.

Realistically, maybe a B5 comic series under his Joe's Comics label? I'd love to see movement on the blu-ray front but the odds seem stacked against that.

I'm trying to remember, wasn't there a sock puppet extra on the Lost Tales DVD?

 

[KoshN]

The last time he had a B5 announcement at a convention I think it was to tell the story of Michael O'Hare.

Realistically, maybe a B5 comic series under his Joe's Comics label? I'd love to see movement on the blu-ray front but the odds seem stacked against that.

Maybe it'll be "The Telepath War" told and "Crusade" continued in comics. Just kidding. I could never have something even that good.

 

[Ubik]

The last time he had a B5 announcement at a convention I think it was to tell the story of Michael O'Hare.

Realistically, maybe a B5 comic series under his Joe's Comics label? I'd love to see movement on the blu-ray front but the odds seem stacked against that.

I'm trying to remember, wasn't there a sock puppet extra on the Lost Tales DVD?

Yes, and here it is for your viewing pleasure… Amusing to see JMS poking fun at their rather limited budget.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYQ5A50lj8I

I for one would be intrigued to see a continuation of the B5 Universe in comics, especially with JMS at the helm. Really depends if he wants to tell B5 stories in that medium. Equally, I’d be happy to see other writers of a good calibre take it on too. It’s one thing that did cross my mind when Joe started Studio JMS and the comics imprint. Obviously, they’d need to license it from WB, but it COULD be done. Depends if demand is there for a B5 comic so many years after it being a going concern.

Results can be variable though, I thought the Firefly / Serenity comics were pretty god damn awful, adding very little to what already exists. Obviously Star Wars and Trek have had countless comics based tales, but they have far larger fan bases.

With regards, the SDCC news, I have the feeling it won’t be something NEW in the B5 universe, but we can hope, can’t we. Maybe the DVDs being remastered for Blu Ray is the most likely candidate?! Or something more low key? Who knows…

 

[babylonfan]

Well, I am going to keep expectations low so as not to be disappointed. How about part two of the "Crusade WTF happened" series? Anyone remember that?

 

[Ubik]

Well, I am going to keep expectations low so as not to be disappointed. How about part two of the "Crusade WTF happened" series? Anyone remember that?

Very low probability on that count I think!

 

[KoshN]

Well, I am going to keep expectations low so as not to be disappointed. How about part two of the "Crusade WTF happened" series? Anyone remember that?

Very low probability on that count I think!

I'm keeping my expectations forcefully so low that they'll probably come out the opposite side of the Earth, achieve escape velocity and leave the solar system and then leave the galaxy.

 

[Ubik]

Like I said, HAS to be sock puppets.

 

[ranger phil]

must be the only one who isnt that bothered about the telepath war. Now the Drakh war might be worth watching.

Oh for a B5 movie.... Not that it'll ever happen tho.

Actors gettin older....

 

[Ubik]

must be the only one who isnt that bothered about the telepath war. Now the Drakh war might be worth watching.

Oh for a B5 movie.... Not that it'll ever happen tho.

Actors gettin older....

I'd be fine with new actors and a rebooted universe, a la Abrams Trek.

 

[KoshN]

must be the only one who isnt that bothered about the telepath war. Now the Drakh war might be worth watching.

Oh for a B5 movie.... Not that it'll ever happen tho.

Actors gettin older....

I'd be fine with new actors and a rebooted universe, a la Abrams Trek.

I'd be fine with things that don't require actors:

1. Novels (preferred)
2. Graphic Novels
3. Comics

....all available on Kindle.

 

[Raw Shark]

It's been hours, is there truly no word?!?

I'm thinking the B5 news is something about the script books (but it won't be Crusade, damnit). I don't understand his refusal to tell any further B5 stories as novels, comics or short stories. Sad.

Raw Shark

"No... no, I was meditating!"
Captain Sheridan

 

[KoshN]

I'm not holding my breath. It's been 3:15 hours since his talk was supposed to start.

 

[ranger phil]

whats this I hear? he's making a Babylon 5 feature film?

 

[Ubik]

TRUE! There will be a feature film going into production in 2016 with or without WB's support. Jan Schroeder was at the SDCC panel, and has confirmed it. Studio JMS has been successful enough to look at doing it solo.

This is AMAZING news! FAR better than sock puppets!

I think, logically, it has to be a reboot with a new cast. Too many of the original cast have passed beyond the rim, and many are now too old to convincingly reprise their roles. I would also guess that it can't really be set after the events of the TV series, because that would alienate far too much of the films potential audience - the general cinema going public. It would have to be what Serenity is to Firefly. Done in such a way that new viewers can get to know the universe with no prior knowledge.

However, I could see a lot of the old cast getting cameos, perhaps in the vein of Star Wars VII. Or, as the above videos suggests, perhaps playing totally different characters that are relevant to the story.

 

[Ubik]

Jan's full update from the SDCC panel!

Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con (or the day JMS announced that he'll do a B5 movie).

I got there at a good time, not long after the con opened at 10:00 AM. A little surprisingly, the mezzanine didb't really seem too much busier than other days so far except for the food area being busier. I've got pre-written letters to WB and NBC/Universal out on the table and a fair number of folks took those to mail after adding a little demographic info. Five or six were left with me and I dropped them off to be mailed.

The big panel of the day was JMS' of course. First I went to his signing and got a few things signed that will most likely be destined as fund-raisers. I verified with JMS that he wouldn't mind if I handed out buttons and postcards before his panel. A new friend, Lukas, handed out at the door and I wandered the room where people were already staying from the panel before.

JMS started the panel by reviewing his current projects, both 'out house' (not Studio JMS) and in-house and continued with news. We got an introduction to the Sense8 actors. JMS described it as a "...complex, amazing tapestry of stories."
- Ten Grand: JMS is currently negotiating with a major Studio/Network for a series based on this.
- Shadowman feature film: He's two to three weeks from turning in the latest draft.
- He couldn't name it, but he's working on a project for Universal concerning Rod Serling and working with Carol Serling, Rod's widow on it.
- Again he couldn't say much but he sshowed a title card for a show called "Two Streets" that he's just made a deal with Universal for that he'll be working with "Walking Dead's" Gail Anne Hurd.
- "Titans" is the name of the Ffeature film/graphic novel project that was just announced yesterday (see movie thread).

So it's been a really big year for Studio JMS. And due to that, he can now look to doing a feature film ffor B5. JMS recapped that WB owns everything about B5 except the movie rights and even though he holds the film rights, to take a B5 movie to another studio without holding the TV rights wouldn't work. There's one studio in LA that doesn't care about that - Studio JMS - and in 2015 JMS will write the script. He'll give WB the opportunity to step up, but if they don't, Studio JMS will make it in 2016 on thier own with a $1-200,000,000.00 budget.

Fan questios:
A fan asked if JMS might crowdfund part of the film so that fans might be involved and JMS said that he resists doing that because it seems to him that SF fans are an exploited group and he doesn't ever want to do that - he'd rather accept investor money.

Asked about the current situation with streaming Babylon 5, JMS said that it's all up to Warner Bros. and geve the #FreeBabylon5 campaign a nice plug, telling of the success in Europe to date and hoping for some movement domestically.

A fan asked if the success of a B5 feature might improve the chances of streaming and even future TV projects and JMS said that it would probably have a significant effect, that a good way to get someone's (WB) attention is to rattle their cage.

Asked if the film would be a reboot or a continuation:
"It would have to be a reboot because it's been twenty-plus years since we started that show and some of the age ranges wouldn't work with some of these characters so we'd need to move a few people around. But what I want to do is use the original cast one way or another but we'd have to move some things around. I'd love to see Bruce as the President of the Earth Alliance; it would be the perfect role for him."

JMS went on to tell about a story he wanted to do that he wasn't allowed to in the original show where when Londo was injured, he wanted to do a dream sequence where the actors played different characters but the studio thought the audience would get confused.

A fan asked what's being made not that would equal BB5 for being transformative and JMS replied that TV is having a golden age right now with lots of amazing things. being made.

He concluded with his regular homily for the fans to never surrender their dreams, that with persistance and talent and luck, can overcome your circumstances and follow your passionss and succeed.

Jan
(posting in various places- feel free to share)

 

[ranger phil]

simply awesome. bought the boxset the other day (again) and now we're getting a movie. seriously I am delighted beyond description.

 

[Ubik]

simply awesome. bought the boxset the other day (again) and now we're getting a movie. seriously I am delighted beyond description.

Yes. It's SUPERB news. And the fact that JMS can finance it himself via Studio JMS makes it all the more likely to happen. Sure, there will be a few hurdles to be overcome, but I fully expect this to materialise.

Although, what the hell happened to his previous Studio JMS feature 'The Flickering Light'!?!

I suspect that WB may not pass on the B5 movie, they'd look like fools if they passed on it, and it went on to be a massive success. If there's one thing studios hate, it's looking stupid.