[Lateralus]

Well, for those of you who are Babylon 5 fanatics like myself, it is finally official: A Babylon 5 movie will hit production in April.

From ISNnews.net:

Finally -- news is popping up all over the internet about this project JMS has been hinting at for about a year. According to Production Weekly, the movie will begin filming next April in the United Kingdom under the direction of Steven Beck. Here is how the project is described:

"The technology of the ancient and extinct Shadow race is being unleashed upon the galaxy by an unknown force, and Earthforce intelligence officer Diane Baker, whose brother was recently killed in a mysterious explosion, is out to find out who is behind the intergalactic conspiracy. Joining her in her investigation is Galen, a techno-mage who has been charged with keeping the technology out of the hands of those who would abuse it."

No word on whether we'll see Peter Woodward back as Galen -- but that would be awesome! In October, JMS wrote: "...Oh, and for the first time in five years, there is an office somewhere in England with the words Babylon 5 on the door..." So we'll have to wait to see if JMS will give us more information on this soon. I sure hope so.

[Mafia]

nice
now lets just get the Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy out and we'll be set.

[Scotttheking]

[Scotttheking]

[Superchicken]

Hopefully the new Character is good. I always wondered if they'd do anything with Galen. That said is this going to be against the Drak or what? By the way how far in the future is this gona be? Is this gona be same time frame as crusader or later?

[Superchicken]

I just realized something... B5 always used really good made for TV special effects... THIS IS GONA BE AN AMAZING MOVIE TO SEE!

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

I tried watching the show many times but it always looked so low budget to me, I also hated the way the used just about every guest Star Trek actor in it and it and the poor 3D, it felt like a ghetto DS9. Not to mention they changed most of the characters from the pilot and the captain a couple times.

I am sure the story was interesting but the rest didn't do it for me.

[Superchicken]

They only changed the main character once and it worked out very well for the series and that couldn't have been helped. JMS is an amazing writer, I love all his little philosophical ramblings even if I don't agree. That said, watching Jeremiah after B5 was funny because you can see some of the people from B5 in the new characters (not the actors but the people) like for example that one group that just vanishes their leader totally reminded me of a nicer Byron. Lee had several similarities with Garibaldee (sp) as did Kurdy. Sadly there was no real Ivonova like character. I swear Ivonova is one of my fave characters ever! That said I still love the Mr. Smith character.

[Ghoser777]

Bruce Boxleitner's mom used to be my dad's secretary when he was principal of an elementary school in Des Plaines, Illinois. My dad and his dad sometimes get together for golf sometimes.

[Rev-O]

[Lateralus]

Another bit of news today, from Cinescape:

Yesterday's news story about the rumored BABYLON 5 movie loosened a tongue with one of our readers, and today we've got more information to share about THE MEMORY OF SHADOWS. According to a previous report forwarded via one of the United Kingdom based B5 Yahoogroups, the BABYLON 5 feature is heavy into pre-production at EMI Elstree Studios. Additionally, this current phase of production is under the aegis of production manager Peter Heslop (whose credits include GLADIATOR, STAR WARS EPISODES I and II and WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT).

We know we've got British pals working in the film industry over there, and now's the time to lend us a hand. If you know more about this secret production, who's working on it or anything else, email our team and we'll report on it.

[brapper]

neato .always liked that show.

[Spliff]

Originally posted by Superchicken:
That said, watching Jeremiah after B5 was funny because you can see some of the people from B5 in the new characters (not the actors but the people) like for example that one group that just vanishes their leader totally reminded me of a nicer Byron. Lee had several similarities with Garibaldee (sp) as did Kurdy. Sadly there was no real Ivonova like character. I swear Ivonova is one of my fave characters ever! That said I still love the Mr. Smith character.

JMS said that working on "Jeremiah" was the worst professional experience of his life. MGM were complete dicks that interfered at every level. He refused to do a third season.

Slightly OT: JMS posted today how his commentary on the Crusade DVDs was cut without his knowledge or permission. He had a lot of grief from TNT while making Crusade and he wanted to tell his side of the story in the commentary. Here's his post about it:

From:_jmsatb5@aol.com (jms at b5)
Subject:_Re: "Crusade" DVDs in TNT order
To:_rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated__
Date:_12/10/2004 2:10:05 AM__

>I've listened to the commenary and features but I haven't heard anything
>really
>about what happened. Certainly not anything like the story we were told at
>Hawthorne. One wonders if they gave in and let JMS talk about what happened
>and then simply edited it out.

Yes, that's exactly what happened.

I sat down to watch the DVD set yesterday, having picked it up at the local
store, and went to the commentary. I'd put that information at the very start
of my commentary.

Now, understand: what I'd told WB was this....if you want me to do the
commentary, my requirement is that you let me tell what really happened. If
you want to use the commentary, you have to leve that in. If you don't want to
have that in, then don't use the commentary at all. Everybody agreed.

So I started it up...listened...and it was gone.

In its place is a segment taken from the on-camera interview.

This was the one tape they didn't send me for approval, which being busy I
didn't track back, but I was always told there wasn't a problem. At no time
did ANYONE from WB or New Wave Entertainment tell me that this was being done.

Doing these DVDs was the only way I had to date to get the bad taste of that
experience out of my mouth, the sheer dishonesty and rudeness of it all.

So much for that goal.

The term "furious" doesn't even begin to cover it. I'm normally a very quiet,
soft spoken kind of guy.

But last night I broke the sound barrier and the dictionary all at the same
time.

Furious.

You have no idea.

jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2004 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-17253

[Lateralus]

From JMS:

The rule of thumb in Hollywood is that for every thousand scripts that get written, only a few dozen get into development, and out of those, only one will ever get made...if that.

A little over a year ago, I was approached by a company that wanted to make a Babylon 5 movie. They optioned the rights, and commissioned a script. (It's worth mentioning that I, not WB, own the rights to a B5 movie. When we were negotiating the original B5 deal -- by whose terms I will never see a dime in profit -- the one thing they did let me have were the movie rights, figuring they'd never be worth anything in the long run.)

Anyway...on December 27th of 2003, the script for "The Memory of Shadows" was turned in, and the process began of trying to make the deal work with all the various forces involved. It is, to say the least, a very difficult process on any movie where the studio does not directly take the financial reins. In terms of B5, Warner's position was esssentially, "We only do big-budget movies with big names, so you're on your own." If there were big-name movie actors in the film, they'd get behind it; without that, things become very problematic, especially as far as the financing was concerned. You much have to put together a consortium of international interests and business plans rivaled in complexity only by the Allied invasion of Normandy Beach.

Nonetheless, every attempt was made by the people involved to get this deal in place. This was not being done by Doug or myself, but rather by the company/individuals who approached us and optioned the rights. At times, it seemed we were inches away from a deal...stages were reserved at Elstree, actors were contacted, a director was in place, the script went through many revisions, a few key staff were hired, again not by me...it was really a year-long roller coaster ride. During that time, the people involved, with every good intention, tried very hard to pull the necessary pieces together on the deal. The option expired in late December 2004, but I renewed it without cost, to give those involved more time to try and make things work.

In the end, however, the deal could be put together, and it did not look as if that was going to change at any point in the foreseeable future. So the option has reverted, and to all intents and purposes, the project has dead ended. Nor do I think this particular incarnation will arise again at any point in the future, though prognostication has always been a tricky art, especially if you have to do it without the benefit of hindsight.

This was not the first time someone's taken a run at a B5 feature film, and it will not be the last. Eventually it will happen, because such things are simply inevitable. If they can do a Brady Bunch movie, you can be sure that sooner or later, somebody's going to do a B5 movie. The only thing I can say without equivocation is that when that day comes, as the rights-holder, I will make darned sure that it's done right, because I'd rather have no B5 movie than one that doesn't live up to what fans and I myself would want to see.

To that end...I can wait.

Anyway, just thought you should know the story.
jms

*Sigh*

[Spliff]

Damn. I freakin' hate movie studios. We'll probably see a dozen "Andromeda" feature films before we see a B5 feature film. And if there is a B5 film, Keanu Reeves will probably be cast as Capt. Sheridan.

_From:_jmsatb5@aol.com
Subject:_Re: additional from jms
To:_rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated__
Date:_2/25/2005 8:22:05 PM__

Methuselah Jones wrote:
> Carved in mystic runes upon the very living rock, the last words of
> <jmsatb5@aol.com> of rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated make plain:
>
> > When we were negotiating the original B5 deal -- by whose terms I
will
> > never see a dime in profit -- the one thing they did let me have
were
> > the movie rights.
>
> No wonder WB likes B5 -- they don't have to pay you anything for it.
> Kind of puts a different light on buying the DVDs and stuff, knowing
> we're just supporting some fat-ass studio execs and not the actual
> talent.
>

That's the great irony of the situation. The criteria told to us right
up front while we were producing B5 was that each of the series on PTEN
had to show a profit *in that year* in order to stay on the air and be
renewed. So we'd have these meetings with studio heads who were
congratulating us on how much money the show was making for them
(again, while we were still making for it), and then look at me,
realize what they'd said, and hurriedly add, "Though technically we're
still in the red."

The show, all in, cost about $110 million to make. Each year of its
original run, we know it showed a profit because they TOLD us so. And
in one case, they actually showed us the figures. It's now been on the
air worldwide for ten years. There's been merchandise, syndication,
cable, books, you name it. The DVDs grossed roughly half a BILLION
dollars (and that was just after they put out S5, without all of the S5
sales in).

So what does my last profit statement say? We're $80 million in the
red.

Basically, by the terms of my contract, if a set on a WB movie burns
down in Botswana, they can charge it against B5's profits.

But then again, I knew that was the situation going in...I saw the
writing on the wall (and the contract) from the git-go. I didn't do
this to build an empire, I wanted to tell this story...and that's worth
more than anything else.

Doesn't mean I can't tweak 'em about it, though.

jms

[starman]

VERY nice. Looking forward to it.

Mike

[Superchicken]

Read the whole post. The movie isn't being made any more... which really sucks.