trekgeezer
Member
Don't really know if this means anything, but you can never tell with these things
Check out the story at AICN
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/47597
Check out the story at AICN
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/47597
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More B5 on the way?
- Thread starter trekgeezer
- Start date
vorlonlovechild
Regular
wait till april and all will be revealed....
Jan
Regular
I can't be sure but I think the San Diego Comic-Con announcements JMS had hoped to make weren't B5 related.
It was at the NY Comic-con in early October that JMS said that WB had called him about something B5 related a few weeks before. The point he made was that he'd told them back in 2008 not to come back to him unless they were ready to do a big-budget movie or a series with a sufficient budget and creative control to him. They called. No telling what, or if anything might come of it. Time will tell.
Jan
It was at the NY Comic-con in early October that JMS said that WB had called him about something B5 related a few weeks before. The point he made was that he'd told them back in 2008 not to come back to him unless they were ready to do a big-budget movie or a series with a sufficient budget and creative control to him. They called. No telling what, or if anything might come of it. Time will tell.
Jan
babylonfan
Regular
April fools?
This is why the whole budget/creative control issue comes into play, because Joe looked back at these projects and realized they didn't live up to the B5 legacy.
I think that a pilot will be made right around then. Spring is the time that the networks are placing their show orders.
Jan, I thought JMS said he would only consider a feature film? I don't remember him mentioning anything about 'settling' for a series. I would gladly 'settle' for a series, that would be the best format for more B5.
I'm going to hold my breath until April. Or until I pass out and have wild visions about the Telepath War.
Raw Shark
"Obviously, we gotta stand by our North Korean allies."
Sarah Palin, super genius
I'm going to hold my breath until April. Or until I pass out and have wild visions about the Telepath War.
Raw Shark
"Obviously, we gotta stand by our North Korean allies."
Sarah Palin, super genius
Jan
Regular
In this post he only mentions feature films but it sounds like they'd also approached him at that time about "...or a cable thing..." so it may just not have gotten typed.
My totally inexpert opinion is that either might be tempting, given a proper budget. In a TV show, he might be given total creative control which would be unusual (unheard of?) for a feature film. On the other hand, with a feature he might be allowed to tell a bigger story in every sense of the word but in features it's usually the director with the most control.
Don't hold your breath, though. JMS isn't always accurate when guessing when something might be announced/talked about.
Jan
My totally inexpert opinion is that either might be tempting, given a proper budget. In a TV show, he might be given total creative control which would be unusual (unheard of?) for a feature film. On the other hand, with a feature he might be allowed to tell a bigger story in every sense of the word but in features it's usually the director with the most control.
Don't hold your breath, though. JMS isn't always accurate when guessing when something might be announced/talked about.
Jan
hypatia
Regular
Movies can be completely finished and still never see the light of day, if I'm not mistaken.
Definitely a "wouldn't hold my breath" item.
Would he still find working on B5 to be sufficiently stimulating? He seems to have moved onto other things, might there be a risk of "been there, done that" at this point?
Definitely a "wouldn't hold my breath" item.
Would he still find working on B5 to be sufficiently stimulating? He seems to have moved onto other things, might there be a risk of "been there, done that" at this point?
Jan, I seem to remember JMS saying that total creative control would be unheard of in a feature film, unless you're a Spielberg or a Lucas (shudder). But I'm not sure how that would work in this case, since he owns the rights to the movie option. Sounds like a Hollywood stand-off in the making. But it makes sense he might go for a series or cable something-or-other, since he presumably already had stories in mind for that format for 'Lost Tales.' Hmmm...
Raw Shark
"If the Department of Homeland Security was created to defend the homeland, then what is the purpose of the Department of Defense?"
Pat Buchanan
Raw Shark
"If the Department of Homeland Security was created to defend the homeland, then what is the purpose of the Department of Defense?"
Pat Buchanan
Bester
Regular
The issues I have with those two projects have nothing to do with the budget and everything to do with the writing.
In regard to a new project, I would prefer to see a mini-series (focused on the Teep War) rather than anything else. The only problem I can see with this is that such a story should really have been told around 2-3 years at after the end of Season 5 (judging by Lyta's agreement with Garibaldi). If made now, the cast may require ItB-type de-aging make-up to make them look the right age.
Jan
Regular
My feeling is that anything he said about movies pre-Changeling is probably moot these days because he's much higher up the food chain now than he was then. Which doesn't necessarily mean he'll have complete control but he's certainly more likely to end up with a director who respects his vision. One hopes, anyway.
Jan
This is what his recent facebook post where the "ask after April" quote came from said:
jms said:
Budget and writing aren't separate issues though. One writes scripts to the budget given, which can lead to a lot of creative compromises.
Last edited:
So a poor budget means . . . . . . . . what exactly?
I’m aware of this whole ‘sci-fi’ verse ‘science fiction’ argument. Personally I think it’s a bit simplistic, but one part of the bottom line is that a well written ‘science fiction’ story does not need a large budget.
What it is is that television is not just about story, it's about the visual aspects as well. This is something that makes scriptwriting very different from prose. When writing a script, one thinks about the budget and will skip over scenes that would have helped the story. You start dropping out visuals because you can't afford effects; you start dropping sets out because you can only afford to build two walls; you start dropping characters because you can't afford actors, and then you're left with very little left to film. Is your bare-bones story still there? Yes. Is it still interesting? Probably not as much. If what you're left with can play as radio drama, then your budget has backed you behind the line of being able to use the visual medium effectively. This IMO hampered the intensity of the Lochley story in The Lost Tales, which I think was a good science fiction story as originally presented (Joe's short story, "The Darkness Between the Stars.") The dialogue in this portion of the Lost Tales carried the right intensity but there wasn't much else of substance to make it interesting for the screen, and a higher budget would have allowed more visual content to be written in to the script.
Bester
Regular
My problem with the Lochley story was that it wasn't written for B5. It was simply shoe-horned into the B5 universe. When I watched it for the first time it just didn't feel right.
On the other hand, I thought the visuals in TLT were pretty amazing. I loved the external shots of the station, the ships, and the future vision of NY.
On the other hand, I thought the visuals in TLT were pretty amazing. I loved the external shots of the station, the ships, and the future vision of NY.
vorlonlovechild
Regular
Loved the Lochley story on TLT. For me Lochley was the weakest link in series 5 in a way - not because she was a new character or the way Tracy portrayed her, but I just found it difficult to warm to her. However I liked the Lochley part of the Lost tales most. Sheridans story was a bit 'meh' whereas the Lochley/priest segment was very well done. I finally warmed to her in a way.
Regarding JMS/April. I was wondering the other day if a Re-boot of the series per-se might work... Carrying on from the Episode 'Objects at Rest'. This could include the Drakh War and Telepath war and wrap everything up nice and tidy.
I Must admit tho that i'm kinda hoping for a Movie.
Regarding JMS/April. I was wondering the other day if a Re-boot of the series per-se might work... Carrying on from the Episode 'Objects at Rest'. This could include the Drakh War and Telepath war and wrap everything up nice and tidy.
I Must admit tho that i'm kinda hoping for a Movie.
Bester
Regular
I would love to see a reboot if they went back to the original plan of Sinclair being the one and only 'The One', who survives all the events of the series. But I'm porbably in the minority there!
