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uh-oh....this doesn't sound good.

Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

I'm personally still a bit on the skeptical side, but I'll send a letter as soon as finals are done and I'm home (i.e. probably Thursday). I think I'll follow sleepy's formula, apologizing if it's only a rumor but still getting my point across, etc.
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

I like the Christmas card idea to some extent, but they could get lost in all the other Christmas cards they get. The card / Postcard idea is a good one. Are there any places online where you can create a card and pay and have it sent to the WB / UK addresses? People are more likely to do things via the internet than they are to actually write something, print it out, stick a stamp on it and walk to the mailbox. I, myself, have already mailed my two letters but perhaps if we all put our heads together and come up with a fast, easy way to get word to these addresses? Any ideas?

I'm not talking about virtual e-cards sent to an email address, but a website where you can type in a name and address and a card gets physically sent to the address given.
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

You know, I was thinking the that very thing. Expecially for us non-US people, an US online card company would be faster than mailing all the way from Europe.
Post such solutions below.

EDIT: A starting point?

EDIT2:
look at my my card post about how that service didn't work for Europeans, but another service looks like it may work.
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

The technique I tried to use in my letter was to be pointed, but not full-on say I've heard that they want to recast. I basically talked about how long I have been and how much I am a Babylon 5 fan (including what DVD purchases I have made), then talked about being excited about The Memory of Shadows and about how, though I don't know which characters are going to be in it (be they Sheridan, Delenn, G'Kar, Londo, or even someone from Crusade like Galen) I look forward to seeing characters that were brought to life by talented actors making the transition to the big screen. I then made a pointed and noticable statement about how it would be a shame if the actors didn't have the opportunity to bring their characters to life for us again.
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

I still need to write up and mail a letter to ol' WB from me this afternoon; I should make myself get on it! :eek:
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I'm in the middle of final-madness, the phone and computer lines on campus are down, grades are due in a day and a half and I found the time to type up and mail a note over the weekend. :p

Yes! Get off yon little butt and letter write. ;) ;)

Seriously, though, I don't go to a single website where I could help. I assume scifi.com has heard about this, and all the boards I go to are either very much "a group of friends who post together from time to time" or the news is already there.

But I do recall the studios really seem to count one paper (snail mail) letter to be equal to a certain number of fans, and it's a big number, so get yourself to the word processor! It can be short, just keep it polite.

Polite but determined is ok. :D

Here's my letter:
December 11th, 2004

Warner Brother Features Development Department
B5: The Memory of Shadows
4000 Warner Boulevard
Burbank, CA 91522

To Whom It May Concern:

I have recently heard a disturbing rumor about the possible new Babylon 5 theatrical movie project that J. Michael Straczynski has been developing for you, THE MEMORY OF SHADOWS. I do hope the rumors are not true, and that you are not looking to recast new actors in major roles for this movie. If the original cast were to be replaced, I fear that no Babylon 5 fans, including myself, would support the film, either theatrically or on DVD.

I understand the need to bring in a wide audience, but by turning your back on the heart and soul of Babylon 5 you risk a backlash from the Babylon 5 fan-base who helped to make the series and the TV movies such a success both domestically and abroad in first-run, re-runs, and now on DVD (with over 100 million dollars in DVD sales and growing). New characters are one thing, but recasting former ones will seem outrageous to all fans, myself included. It is a step JMS has promised that he would never take...since he felt the cast deserved a pay-off for such hard work and I think that most of the fans agree with this completely.

This could be Warner Brothers' STAR TREK-type franchise, and we want to make it a major success as much as you do.

Once again, I just wanted to say if these rumors are true, I sincerely hope you will reconsider. If you don't, there won't be a Babylon 5 movie coming out: there will be what many fans would consider a shell of an imitation coming out. Please do consider the possible backlash of loyal fans on what we had hoped would be a very interesting and exciting new project to look forward to. Thank you for your time and attention.


Sincerely -
hypatia
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Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

Yes! Get off yon little butt and letter write.
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Ah!, but I'd most likely have to be on my butt to write a letter being that I more often than not sit in my desk chair to type at my computer. :p

Worry not though, I finished my letter in the early afternoon, and it has been deposited into the outgoing mail bin at my local post office. :D
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

Yeah, just resist the temptation to put a santa hat on Peter Woodward, or hanging a misteltoe on a shadow wessel and using it as the front of the card.

Edit: But Booji would make a grand christmas card. As would a Babylon 5 ( Babylon Park -edit) themed one.

(Beware copyrights. But in this case, we're distributing to the copyright owners.)
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

It took me awhile to catch up with the posts, but I saw that. :eek:

I apologize to you and to yon little butt. :D
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

Yeah, just resist the temptation to put a santa hat on a shadow wessel and using it as the front of the card.
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Wow. What a great idea for Christmas card suggestions. :D

Freak out my family, that's for sure. :devil:
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

Here is an interesting point that I just realized from reading a couple of above posts.

"Can you actually help the cause?"

A lot of folks on this site whom are B5 fans don't live in the U.S. Many are in Europe and other parts of the world. What would them writing a letter actually do?

WB's Studio probably doesn't care about their opinion because its not like they are going to fly to the U.S. just to watch this movie. And when DVD's of the movie eventually come out, those are usually distributed by a different branch company, and don't tie DIRECTLY to the profit line for the movie (but residuals do).

So how much do you really think they are going to listen to our overseas friends?
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

I don't know, Recoil, others here can answer that question better than I, I am sure. I have heard the point made before, and it might be a very valid one.
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

Splitter! :D
International sales bring in a lot. On Return of the King, according to boxofficemojo, the international box office was actually TWICE the US box office.
Bling, bling.
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

Whilst I remain skeptical about this whole affair - this rumour seems to have sprung up overnight (I blinked, and suddenly there's 100s of threads everywhere!) - I think I will fire off a couple of letters anyway.

Even if the rumour turns out to be false, no harm will be done; but if things turn out to be true, I'll feel like a fool for not having written.

So, this week I'll don my literary cap, and get down to business :D
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

...its not like they are going to fly to the U.S. just to watch this movie.
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Indeed as Flounder touched on, it's a theatrical release, which means it'll be released in theaters in more places than just the US.
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

Even if one is quite skeptical about it all, there are ways to write a letter in support of The Memory of Shadows that reaffirms one's desire to see the characters as played by the actors we've come to know them by while not directly hitting the concept of TPTB wanting to recast the parts.
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

Recoil, YES, it DOES Matter and every letter the studio gets will help this cause. Studios do look beyond the U.S.A. audience. There are many movies that have done very dismal here in the US and later found its audience abroad. Seven Years in Tibet comes to mind, a movie that brought in extremely poor numbers in the US but made oodles of money worldwide.

Please don't think that because you are not in the States your opinion doesn't count. IT DOES! =)
 
Re: uh-oh....this doesn\'t sound good.

...its not like they are going to fly to the U.S. just to watch this movie.
Click to expand...

Indeed as Flounder touched on, it's a theatrical release, which means it'll be released in theaters in more places than just the US.
Click to expand...

OK that make sense then. I guess I do know that major movies circle the globe, I wasn't trying to say that we are the only ones who get to see movies in theaters or anything, but I guess I didn't quite realize HOW MANY movies that are made here circulate.
 
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