WB considering upgrading B5 for Blu Ray

[JonFrain]

I'm not putting too much hope into this. but you never know. I'm positive it will be done eventually.

http://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2013/11/warner-brothers-considering-hd-update.html

https://www.facebook.com/B5Scrolls/posts/554074721347592

 

[KoshN]

When it comes to Warner Brothers, I'll believe it when I see it on the shelves. Then, I'll believe that they did a good job only AFTER viewing the episodes.

 

[JonFrain]

I think they should pay up to convert some big episodes and see how well they sell on Blu-Ray and go from there. The benefit they get from redoing them is that they can eventually put them up in HD on streaming services.

 

[Jan]

JMS has been asked about this several times since that podcast has been quoted and he still thinks there's no chance it's gonna happen.

Jan

 

[KoshN]

JMS has been asked about this several times since that podcast has been quoted and he still thinks there's no chance it's gonna happen.

Jan

HE KNOWS Warner Bros..

 

[Red45]

WB shouldn't do this now, they need to get people excited. Announce a big budget reboot, put it on Netflix or syndicate the show first, let people remember what B5 is before putting it on the shelves. The worst thing that could happen is they release the first season on Blu-Ray and it doesn't sell well, so they don't end up making more

 

[Republibot 3.0]

WB shouldn't do this now, they need to get people excited. Announce a big budget reboot, put it on Netflix or syndicate the show first, let people remember what B5 is before putting it on the shelves. The worst thing that could happen is they release the first season on Blu-Ray and it doesn't sell well, so they don't end up making more

Are we talking about a reboot here, or simply a re-release of the existing series with improved CGI and stuff?

 

[KoshN]

WB shouldn't do this now, they need to get people excited. Announce a big budget reboot, put it on Netflix or syndicate the show first, let people remember what B5 is before putting it on the shelves. The worst thing that could happen is they release the first season on Blu-Ray and it doesn't sell well, so they don't end up making more

Are we talking about a reboot here, or simply a re-release of the existing series with improved CGI and stuff?

I have faith that the extreme tightness and greed of Warner Brothers will prevent both, and ANY kind of a Blu-Ray release, even a half-assed one (the most likely Warner Brothers path.). If you think they might back a well done Blu-Ray release of even The Gathering and Season 1 with even minimal extras, I have this bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell to you.

I HOPE I'm wrong about the well done Blu-Rays, but I doubt it.

 

[Republibot 3.0]

WB shouldn't do this now, they need to get people excited. Announce a big budget reboot, put it on Netflix or syndicate the show first, let people remember what B5 is before putting it on the shelves. The worst thing that could happen is they release the first season on Blu-Ray and it doesn't sell well, so they don't end up making more

Are we talking about a reboot here, or simply a re-release of the existing series with improved CGI and stuff?

I have faith that the extreme tightness and greed of Warner Brothers will prevent both, and ANY kind of a Blu-Ray release, even a half-assed one (the most likely Warner Brothers path.). If you think they might back a well done Blu-Ray release of even The Gathering and Season 1 with even minimal extras, I have this bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell to you.

I HOPE I'm wrong about the well done Blu-Rays, but I doubt it.

Ok. Because when the word "Reboot" is thrown in here, that's a completely different topic entirely. I think I'll go start it, assuming I haven't already....

 

[Red45]

WB shouldn't do this now, they need to get people excited. Announce a big budget reboot, put it on Netflix or syndicate the show first, let people remember what B5 is before putting it on the shelves. The worst thing that could happen is they release the first season on Blu-Ray and it doesn't sell well, so they don't end up making more

Are we talking about a reboot here, or simply a re-release of the existing series with improved CGI and stuff?

My mistake, I meant reboot the franchise and put the original episodes on syndication and services like Netflix. Just to get people excited

 

[KoshN]

WB shouldn't do this now, they need to get people excited. Announce a big budget reboot, put it on Netflix or syndicate the show first, let people remember what B5 is before putting it on the shelves. The worst thing that could happen is they release the first season on Blu-Ray and it doesn't sell well, so they don't end up making more

Are we talking about a reboot here, or simply a re-release of the existing series with improved CGI and stuff?

My mistake, I meant reboot the franchise and put the original episodes on syndication and services like Netflix. Just to get people excited

Regarding any reboot of the franchise:

1. WB doesn't think that they HAVE a franchise. They don't think that highly of B5. B5 is a minor thing to them, and Crusade and everything since are failures to them.

2. They'd want to do any reboot on the cheap. If it cost more than 5 cents, they'd balk.

3. They'd meddle in everything about the reboot, including casting.

4. Any reboot that might somehow squeeze past the above three points would suffer in comparison to the original, and wouldn't be popular.


If they had any sense at all, they'd air B5 and the movies on any channel they could strong arm or offer the reairing rights on the cheap, and reboot Crusade. Then, use that to generate interest in Babylon 5 Blu-Rays.

 

[Jan]

Mac, with all respect to your cynicism, I'll remind you that under the last 'close call', JMS stated that he had a sufficient budget and complete creative control. It was the fact that the distribution venue didn't come to be that scuttled it, not any negotiation hurdles.

As for #4...wasn't somebody here vocally against Crusade because it was so different from Babylon 5 at first? Seems to me there was...

Jan

 

[KoshN]

Mac, with all respect to your cynicism, I'll remind you that under the last 'close call', JMS stated that he had a sufficient budget and complete creative control. It was the fact that the distribution venue didn't come to be that scuttled it, not any negotiation hurdles.

There's always SOMETHING that blows up and scuttles or ruins the project.

Project (ruiners)

Crusade (TNT-Atlanta) - THIS IS WHERE IT ALL STARTED TO GO WRONG.
Crusade restart (The Sci-Fi Channel and Warner Brothers)
The Legend of the Rangers (The Sci-Fi Channel and Warner Brothers)
Voices in the Dark (Warner Brothers)
Babylon 5 - The Memory of Shadows (script owners lack of funding)
Babylon 5 reboot idiotic idea* (Warner Brothers)

As for #4...wasn't somebody here vocally against Crusade because it was so different from Babylon 5 at first? Seems to me there was...

Jan

You talking about ME? It's true that waaaaay back when Crusade was first aired on TNT, I wasn't a big fan of it, but part of that was due to the FUBAR airing order and continuity errors and preemptions caused by the nitwit jerks at TNT-Atlanta. Remember, "The Path of Sorrows" airing at midnight after the damned NBA draft? HOWEVER, I gave it a second chance and rewatched it to try to puzzle out a correct airing order (impossible because of the nitwit jerks at TNT-Atlanta). So, I watched it many more times, which is easy when you have only 13 episodes, and now I appreciate it for what we DID GET.

Trouble is, Crusade is like a jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing and some pieces FUBAR-ed up by hoodlums, so that all you can do is appreciate the pieces that they weren't able to deface, and long for somebody to come along and FIX your puzzle, but nobody's (WB) going to do that because they have no faith or vision.


* Babylon 5 does not need a reboot. Think of G'kar's statement about being reborn, he was quite sufficiently born the first time. If anything needs a reboot, CRUSADE DOES!!!

 

[Republibot 3.0]

WB shouldn't do this now, they need to get people excited. Announce a big budget reboot, put it on Netflix or syndicate the show first, let people remember what B5 is before putting it on the shelves. The worst thing that could happen is they release the first season on Blu-Ray and it doesn't sell well, so they don't end up making more

Are we talking about a reboot here, or simply a re-release of the existing series with improved CGI and stuff?

My mistake, I meant reboot the franchise and put the original episodes on syndication and services like Netflix. Just to get people excited

I can't see JMS being particularly supportive of that idea. He did 5 years pitching it and 5 years making it, it reached a solid conclusion. There doesn't seem to be any NEED to do a fundamental rethink of the series.

 

[KoshN]

Are we talking about a reboot here, or simply a re-release of the existing series with improved CGI and stuff?

My mistake, I meant reboot the franchise and put the original episodes on syndication and services like Netflix. Just to get people excited

I can't see JMS being particularly supportive of that idea. He did 5 years pitching it and 5 years making it, it reached a solid conclusion. There doesn't seem to be any NEED to do a fundamental rethink of the series.

Right. The only thing that Babylon 5 might NEED to appeal to today's audience is for the CGI to be brought up to 2013-2014 levels and be made in the 16:9 format, and the composite live action/CGI scenes reworked to make the whole show look *******GREAT******* on Blu-Ray and HD TVs.. However, Warner Brothers would never spend the money required to do that. If they DID, they'd be SHOCKED at the positive audience response and the money they'd make, BUT they'll never know because they'll never DO IT.

Hell, those well done Blu-Rays could reactivate the franchise (that Warner Brothers doesn't know that they have) and provide the spark for a spinoff, a reboot of Crusade. However, it's all a pipe dream .

Anybody want to dream about recasting the roles in post-"A Call to Arms" Crusade? Maybe that should be it's own thread. Any takers??? I'd imagine that Peter Woodward and Carrie Dobro (the Crusade actors IN "A Call to Arms") could reprise their roles..

 

[Ragzus]

If they are going to re-hash all the Cgi and bring the video to 2014

I still think a re-telling of "In the beginning" from different perspectives They could cover other parts of the war sherridan/sinclar weren't part of, use voice overs or clips for the major scenes.

Even if the re-telling movie is a bust it peeks some interest in the old series for when they blue ray it, if its a scifi tv movie it'd be fine to release as the blue rays do.

If (and they should) introducing new characters in earth force/minbari/narn would give them characters to work with if they wanted to try making a new series or rebooting crusade they could use another survivor from the war as the new captain.
I liked how they brought onboard more non human characters in the cast but i think the ship should be ISA based rather than EA, That opens up more stories flash backs or training and other stuff.

Just my opinion though.

 

[babylonfan]

Here's a nice idea for a reboot. How about telling the story from the point of view of general Hague (later major Ryan). Get a pilot for his/their role(s) during the Minbari war, and if it catches on start the series roughly at the same time B5 started. Both B5 and "Hague" running on parallel timelines.

Only disadvantage I can see is that the final result will already be known for fans, but the voyage should be more interesting then the destination. Another big risk is messing with existing timelines, in particular if/when the studio starts giving "helpful" advice.

One other thing. People keep mentioning reboot as if to say start again from the beginning. Now English is not my first language, but does reboot not literally mean a restart? As opposed to starting over? So a reboot could start at any time within the known (or unknown) B5 timeline. So it need not necessarily cover the period B5 already covered.

Anyway, just my two cents. Everyone best wishes for 2014.

 

[KoshN]

One other thing. People keep mentioning reboot as if to say start again from the beginning. Now English is not my first language, but does reboot not literally mean a restart? As opposed to starting over? So a reboot could start at any time within the known (or unknown) B5 timeline. So it need not necessarily cover the period B5 already covered.

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Reboot+(fiction)
Reboot (fiction)

In serial fiction, to reboot means to discard all continuity in an established series in order to recreate a character, timeline, and/or backstory from the beginning.

Anyway, just my two cents. Everyone best wishes for 2014.

:beer:

 

[Jan]

For those interested in what JMS said about it, check out this podcast. He specifically talks about the reboot starting around 2:22:19 and talks about characters/actors at 2:26:32. I think it could have been glorious.

Jan

 

[Republibot 3.0]

Regarding any reboot of the franchise:

1. WB doesn't think that they HAVE a franchise. They don't think that highly of B5. B5 is a minor thing to them, and Crusade and everything since are failures to them.

2. They'd want to do any reboot on the cheap. If it cost more than 5 cents, they'd balk.

3. They'd meddle in everything about the reboot, including casting.

4. Any reboot that might somehow squeeze past the above three points would suffer in comparison to the original, and wouldn't be popular.

Yup. Kosh is right. It's a lot like Universal and "Battlestar Galactica," which sat on a shelf for a quarter century without anyone even really bothering to think about it, until someone from outside pointed out exactly what wasted potential they were sitting on top of.

OTOH, this is NOTHING like Star Trek or Stargate, where there's an obvious fanbase, they've just sort of fallen on hard times, but everyone knows they're going to take another stab at it sooner or later.

(Side note: Universal is kind of in the same situation w/ BSG as Warners is w/ B5: It won awards, it was buzzworthy, but no one likes the final season, the TV movies were pretty much misfires, and the two subsequent attempts to do a spinoff have crashed-and-burned)