Per JMS - Ides of May?

[colonyearth]

Addressing several recent posts:

I am not convinced; Los Angeles is a very expensive place to make a film.

???? Andrew, I'm really starting to worry about you. Your non-sequiters are becoming that strange. Yeah, L.A. is an expensive place to film - guess that's why nobody shoots any movies or TV shows there anymore.

1) Where the announcement is made from (likely Warner Bros. Burbank, CA headquarters) had nothing whatsoever with where the project will ultimately be shot. Chances are that a theatrical film would shoot on many different outdoor locations, with interiors shot at a studio. (Most likely Warner Bros. own studio because - despite labor and other costs involved in shooting in L.A. - it is still probably chepaer over-all for them to shoot in facilities that they own, which are already paid for and which are in close proximity to WB's extensive costume, props, technical, backlot and SFX facilities, not to mention specialty rental houses and third party support companies that simply aren't matched anywhere in the world.)

Ok, one other thought, and I haven't read the full thread yet so if anyone has pointed this out forgive me...I just wanted to get my thoughts out while they were still clear in my head.

The idea of the TV announcements in May in NY is fun speculation...but I would say it is the lesser of the two possibilities. Although anything is possible at this point I would say. No...I believe the more likely possibility is that this is in fact a feature film project. The fact that WB will be making the announcement lends creedance to this fact.

However, JDM is wrong in the assumption that the film would be shot in LA. LA has in fact become a very expensive place to shoot these days and as JDM, himself, pointed out, less and less is being shot there. There are support groups and such springing up all over the place to support a film shoot in Canada, Australia and any other number of places, though I do agree I don't think it's England since it is almost as expensive to shoot there these days, not to mention a lot more difficult as there are contractual obligations to use certain numbers of British union workers, etc. that have de-railed and complicated US films for years.

2) Question for the room: What part of "neither of them [the potential B5 universe projects at the talking stage in September, one of which has become "B5:TMoS"] is a series" is everyone having a problem understanding?

Again, JDM is probably right here...although I will also admit that things can change rapidly and we may not be privvy to those changes...so the fact that originally when JMS posted his info there was no talk of a new series, this does not mean that plans haven't changed in the months since then. Although, again, let me state that I think JDM is correct here.

3) JMS posted his message to a diverse newsgroup population that is overwhelming dominated by Americans, with folks from the U.K. probably making up the second largest national group. He cast his riddle in terms he expected many or most of the people in that group to understand. (Which is why, contrary to a complaint above, everyone didn't "have to know the history of Warner Bros." - it was enough that many of us recognize the first names of the very famous Albert, Harry and especially Jack Warner and share that information.) Somehow I don't think he would use a lyric from some obscure band Down Under which doens't, in fact, have any conceivable connection to a place from which Warner Bros. could be expected to make an announcement to get his point across.

Again I tend to agree with JDM here, but there is an interesting point to be made...that it could, as we know Vorlons are prone to do, have a double meaning. Meaning that the announcement was initially referring to LA and "the wrong side of the river" comment is as JDM ascerted that JMS is from NY. However, one funny thing is that when JDM explained that the obscure band and its song was from Australia...one could consider that the double entendre could turn out to be that the film could possibly be shot in Australia as many films are being done, especially considering that Australia plays host to the biggest soundstage in the world, where I might add MOULIN ROUGE and the SW pre-quels were shot. It's an interesting and funny fact that could well turn out to an unintended coincidence.
Or is it? With JMS layers upon layers and plans within plans are something I've come to expect.

CE

 

[rangerPHIL]

Well I still think it is a theatrical movie.

Why else would there be an announcement by WB?




''Understanding is a three edged sword''

 

[B5_Obsessed]

Addressing several recent posts:

2) Question for the room: What part of "neither of them [the potential B5 universe projects at the talking stage in September, one of which has become "B5:TMoS"] is a series" is everyone having a problem understanding?

Regards,

Joe

Not that I have an opinion one way or another anymore (I will simply crawl back into my cryo-chamber and set the timer for May 15th), but JMS did amend his post later on with the ludicrous statement that B5:TmoS will not be an animated series, as if we were all expecting one. So, things may have changed - we've seen the opposite happen with Star Trek: Phase II (a show I remember looking forward to). Either way I'll be happy as long as we get something out of all this madness.

 

[GaribaldisHair]

Not that I have an opinion one way or another anymore (I will simply crawl back into my cryo-chamber and set the timer for May 15th), but JMS did amend his post later on with the ludicrous statement that B5:TmoS will not be an animated series, as if we were all expecting one. So, things may have changed - we've seen the opposite happen with Star Trek: Phase II (a show I remember looking forward to). Either way I'll be happy as long as we get something out of all this madness.

But OTOH, an Animated series was one of the possible projects speculated on by fans when JMS first announced that there was something in the works that wasn't a series ... as were stage play, radio play etc., and other things that he went on to say it definitely wasn't.

So, it could be nothing more significant than an attempt to focus speculation away from some of these specific areas that fans had been talking about.

Having said that, I just want more B5 so I really don't care what it is.

JUST GET ON WITH IT!!!

 

[Kosomot]

Regarding the issue of a series here is an excerpt from my post on this subject from the older thread concerning this:

"One thing that I think is worth considering is that JMS did not preclude a series all togeather in his most recent update but early posts from him regarding this project did so.

A pilot would likely fall under the defination of a series even if it would not be developed into one like the Rangers pilot. A mini-series however would stand alone outside the defination of a series but could act as the precursor to one as Battlestar Galactica has recently done.

Thus JMS would be correct in stating that the project itself is not a new series but perhaps his most recent update alludes to the fact that the new project could lead to a new series."

 

[rangerPHIL]

Isil-Zha?


No-one really knows - apart from JMS and Warners.
So we can only wait for un-authorised leaks, or word from JMS himself.

So just enjoy the ride. We are JMS's personal Cat Toys.





''Keepers of the Past, the Present, and the Future!''

 

[Recoil]

Id be down for a miniseries as much as a feature film really. I'd be OK if it was just another tele-movie too I suppose because hey, any new B5 is good, but I think I would find another tele-movie a bit of a let-down.

 

[GeoKuutio]

Id be down for a miniseries as much as a feature film really. I'd be OK if it was just another tele-movie too I suppose because hey, any new B5 is good, but I think I would find another tele-movie a bit of a let-down.

As would I. I mean, there's just too much going on now about this project. And a TV movie would be quite.. "oh, that's nice, but I've been waiting for something better" -thing.

 

[grumbler]

Yes, but look at it this way: what is the fastest way to revive the B5 franchise? A TV movie would be in our hands a year-plus sooner than a theatrical.

Thinking about the timing of the announcement a bit, and assuming that "the wrong side of the river" is how a New Jerseyan would refer to New York, what possibilities do we have to explore if this IS "something new, but not a series"?

Two thoughts, neither of them well-conceptualized and not mutually exclusive:
1. WB will be showing the original B5 series on their own network, only with updated CGI. Since the B5 fan community is small but hardcore, this option would (reletively cheaply) allow WB to get the fans to rewatch the series, and at the same time get new viewers in, as the one thing held against the DVDs has been the quality of the CGI transfers.

2. A reshowing of the series (with or without the upgrade mentioned above) with a new tie-in miniseries/TVM that shows some element of the plot never addressed in the original series (like, perhaps, some additional action against the Earthforce "renegades" responsible for the "insane Shadow hybrid" that attacked Gideon's ship in the Crusade series, that was responsible for Abel Horn in SitW, etc). Such action isn't precluded by events in the series. This would be, perhaps, "The Machinations of Shadows" or "The Meaning of Sacrifice" or just about any combinations of those words you want to postulate! [Was "sacrifice" on the table when JMS closed the books? Cannot recall.]

Purest speculation, of course. But the timing and place seems to match, and we already know the perp, and "when all that is impossible is excluded, that which remains, however improbable, is the truth."