NEW Babylon 5 Series in Development!

[Ubik]

If the Babylon 5 reboot ends up being "FAR better than the original", I'm sure all would agree that would be incredibly awesome. If that ends up becoming true, I would hope that Warner Bros. promotes the series far better than the original series.

This may be utopia thinking, but if the new series ends up being FAR better than the original, hopefully that would finally lead to a Babylon 5 Motion Picture.

I for one feel no strong need for a B5 movie. TV is definitely the preferable medium for something that shines primarily because of its long form story telling.

The existing TV movies probably tell you all you need to know.

I think the only reason we have yearned for a movie is because, until recently, it was the only possible avenue left open to JMS!

[LateArrival]

If the Babylon 5 reboot ends up being "FAR better than the original", I'm sure all would agree that would be incredibly awesome. If that ends up becoming true, I would hope that Warner Bros. promotes the series far better than the original series.

Nostalgia aside, a reboot could be significantly better with JMS at the helm. He has said on numerous occasions that (paraphrasing) as a writer/director/etc he has More Tools In His Toolbox now than he did in the B5 days. Certainly the effects will have the advantage of thirty years of improvements, but the potential for great storytelling should be off the charts. Hopefully this will get it's chance and go the full length of the arc without any hiccups.

[Kraig]

I got an email from b5books.com yesterday:

Reboot status as of January 19, 2022 The pilot script has been submitted to the CW network. As soon as they approve, production will begin. The timing of this lines up with JMS's previous prediction of the timeline: Pilot shoot early spring. Full production starting mid-summer with an air date Fall, 2022. So exciting! JMS Statement on the Babylon 5 Reboot The network understands the uniqueness of Babylon 5 and is giving me a great deal of latitude with the storytelling. As noted in the announcement, this is a reboot from the ground up rather than a continuation, for several reasons. Heraclitus wrote “You cannot step in the same river twice, for the river has changed, and you have changed.” In the years since B5, I’ve done a ton of other TV shows and movies, adding an equal number of tools to my toolbox, all of which I can bring to bear on one singular question: if I were creating Babylon 5 today, for the first time, knowing what I now know as a writer, what would it look like? How would it use all the storytelling tools and technological resources available in 2021 that were not on hand then? How can it be used to reflect the world in which we live, and the questions we are asking and confronting every day? Fans regularly point out how prescient the show was and is of our current world; it would be fun to take a shot at looking further down the road. So we will not be retelling the same story in the same way because of what Heraclitus said about the river. There would be no fun and no surprises. Better to go the way of Westworld or Battlestar Galactica where you take the original elements that are evergreens and put them in a blender with a ton of new, challenging ideas, to create something fresh yet familiar. To those asking why not just do a continuation, for a network series like this, it can’t be done because over half our cast are still stubbornly on the other side of the Rim. How do you telling continuing story of our original Londo without the original Vir? Or G’Kar? How do you tell Sheridan’s story without Delenn? Or the story of B5 without Franklin? Garibaldi? Zack? The original Babylon 5 was ridiculously innovative: the first to use CGI to create ships and characters, and among the very first to shoot widescreen with a vigorous 5.1 mix. Most of all, for the first time, Babylon 5 introduced viewers accustomed to episodic television to the concept of a five-year arc with a pre-planned beginning, middle and end…creating a brand new paradigm for television storytelling that has subsequently become the norm. That tradition for innovation will continue in this new iteration, and I hope to create additional new forms of storytelling that will further push the television medium to the edge of what’s possible. Let me conclude by just saying how supportive and enthusiastic everyone at the CW has been and is being with this project. They understand the unique position Babylon 5 occupies both in television and with its legions of fans, and are doing everything they can to ensure the maximum in creative freedom, a new story that will bring in new viewers while honoring all that has come before. Onward!

[Jan]

I for one feel no strong need for a B5 movie. TV is definitely the preferable medium for something that shines primarily because of its long form story telling.

This is true. And yet...I got a taste of B5 on a big screen when JMS showed the opening sequence to the Lost Tales at a con in NY back then. It. Was. GLORIOUS. Yes, I know it's the story that matters but this really was great.

[Ta'Lon]

This is true. And yet...I got a taste of B5 on a big screen when JMS showed the opening sequence to the Lost Tales at a con in NY back then. It. Was. GLORIOUS. Yes, I know it's the story that matters but this really was great.

So let us hope that he will make an totally terrible opening sequence and then a glorious story.

[Jan]

So let us hope that he will make an totally terrible opening sequence and then a glorious story.

Oh - I gather you didn't like the Lost Tales? Me, I'd've *loved* to have seen more done with an actual budget and more of Prince Vintari.

[Jan]

News from JMS. It's not what we'd hoped, but not all bad.
----

Today, about an hour ago, Deadline Hollywood announced the slate of pilot scripts being picked up for production by The CW. Babylon 5 was not on that list.

When a pilot script is not picked up to production, 99.999% of the time, that’s the end of the road for the project, the script is dead.

However: shortly before that piece was published, I received a call from Mark Pedowitz, President of The CW. (I should mention that Mark is a great guy and a long-time fan of B5. He worked for Warners when the show was first airing, and always made sure we got him copies of the episodes before they aired because he didn’t want to wait to see what happened next.)

Calling the pilot “a damned fine script,” he said he was taking the highly unusual step of rolling the project and the pilot script into next year, keeping B5 in active development while the dust settles on the sale of the CW.

Here’s the bottom line:

Yesterday, Babylon 5 was in active development at the CW and Warner Bros. for fall 2022.

Today, Babylon 5 is in active development at the CW and Warner Bros. for fall 2023.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/62084557

[Dodger]

Sounds to me like they would rather spend the money on some cheep superhero show rather than a show like
Babylon 5. They have kicked the can down the road.

[LateArrival]

Sounds to me like they would rather spend the money on some cheep superhero show rather than a show like Babylon 5. They have kicked the can down the road.

This seems like an echo of history (almost) repeating itself in a pattern similar to TNT in the 90s. Wasn't one of the issues then that TNT's regular viewers weren't watching B5, and B5 viewers weren't watching TNT's other shows? Am crossing fingers for a potential B5 reboot pilot in... 2023... but if the CW's core viewers are only interested in discount superhero shows, and if potential B5 viewers aren't interested in the CW's traditional programming, their Suits would tend to stick with the familiar rather than Something New. Plus taking risks and trying Something New is probably not ideal when the company is up for grabs. Though if JMS had the B5 command staff played by wrestlers, perhaps the former SF channel might be interested?

[Jan]

The difference being that in the case of Crusade, TNT found out that their audience wasn't increased *after* they'd contracted for Crusade.

What JMS replied to somebody on FB was:

[Ubik]

This seems like an echo of history (almost) repeating itself in a pattern similar to TNT in the 90s. Wasn't one of the issues then that TNT's regular viewers weren't watching B5, and B5 viewers weren't watching TNT's other shows? Am crossing fingers for a potential B5 reboot pilot in... 2023... but if the CW's core viewers are only interested in discount superhero shows, and if potential B5 viewers aren't interested in the CW's traditional programming, their Suits would tend to stick with the familiar rather than Something New. Plus taking risks and trying Something New is probably not ideal when the company is up for grabs. Though if JMS had the B5 command staff played by wrestlers, perhaps the former SF channel might be interested?

I'm not sure this paradigm really exists anymore because of streaming. Any show can reach a wide AND niche audience due to exposure on multiple platforms, Netflix, HBO MAX, etc.

Sabrina isn't really aligned with Arrow, etc. Yet it still works and both are successful.

My own take, I honesty don't think the reboot is going to happen. If they were genuinely excited by it, it would be in the running this year. Pickup is probably even less likely if CW gets sold. Who is to say Mark Pedowitz will still be in post if a sale of CW goes through.

However, if Nexstar Media Group bite and focus on the cable market (already their bread and butter), I feel like a lot of this stuff is doomed to failure if the move is away from streaming platforms. Hard to say if they will retain the relationship with Netflix, one would hope they will.

[Ta'Lon]

"It's dead, Joe."

And I can not say that I'm unhappy about that. B5 is a Legend. Leave it untouched. No Prequels, no Sequels, no Reboots. I know that I'm alone with this meaning. But remember there are more negative examples (Ghostbusters, Knight Rider...) than positive ones. And EACH of former JMS' tries to continue B5 in any form was an epic fail. I think, in the history of TV Shows B5 was an singularity, an unique stroke of luck. The producers, the directors and the actors. I cant believe in a repetition of all of this luck.

[Ubik]

"It's dead, Joe."

And I can not say that I'm unhappy about that. B5 is a Legend. Leave it untouched. No Prequels, no Sequels, no Reboots. I know that I'm alone with this meaning. But remember there are more negative examples (Ghostbusters, Knight Rider...) than positive ones. And EACH of former JMS' tries to continue B5 in any form was an epic fail. I think, in the history of TV Shows B5 was an singularity, an unique stroke of luck. The producers, the directors and the actors. I cant believe in a repetition of all of this luck.

Whilst part of me would be intrigued to see a reboot, a big part of me knows you're right. I mean, what was the last truly good thing JMS has done in the realm of TV or film, it's definitely the original run of B5... So, I understand the temptation to go back to it. However, it feel backwards looking and like getting the band back together for another tour because the fans want it.

At this point, I just don't see it happening.

[Jan]

"It's dead, Joe."

And I can not say that I'm unhappy about that. B5 is a Legend. Leave it untouched. No Prequels, no Sequels, no Reboots

No matter what prequels, sequels or reboots happe, the original will remain untouched. Just as every other art form that's had works based on it remain untouched.

I know that I'm alone with this meaning. But remember there are more negative examples (Ghostbusters, Knight Rider...) than positive ones.

I know I keep repeatin this but which of those were done by the original creator/writer/producer? Compare apples to apples.

And EACH of former JMS' tries to continue B5 in any form was an epic fail.

Speak for yourself. Some were more to my taste than others but none deserve such sweeping condemnation. In *my* opinion, of course.

[Ta'Lon]

No matter what prequels, sequels or reboots happe, the original will remain untouched. Just as every other art form that's had works based on it remain untouched.

...

Speak for yourself. Some were more to my taste than others but none deserve such sweeping condemnation. In *my* opinion, of course.

Only for myself :-D I just feel like JMS' contribution to B5 is generally overrated. Yes, he wrotes nearly all episodes. But when you look closer you see some large footprints from others. For example, some of the best episodes were directed by Mike Vejar and Salvador Trevino (they also on the best episodes of ST:VOY for e.g.) Harlan Ellison had made much more creative input as were noted in some B5 Making-Ofs. And generally the lack of budget had led to its unique look and feel. If you have not the money for more statists, give your main cast more screen time. If you have not the money for many costumes, give Londo and G'Kar more impressive ones. If you have not the money for outdoor shootings, use CGI (as one of the first TV shows ever!) But you need clever ideas to make the best of the small budget. I dont think JMS was the one from which this ideas came.

And today, if you have the best script, the best story and more money (or simply better computers to make much more impressive CGI for the same money) it is not guaranteed that you see the same result at the end. The whole thing stands and falls with the teamwork between actors and the crew. Remember "Space Center Babylon 5" (the pilot): The entire setting was totally different in comparsion to the later series, even with the same actors. I think "The Gathering" would have been the better pilot because its made by the later series crew.

When I say "the same result" I dont mean an word-by-word-remake. I mean the "magic" in the original B5. Remember the time in which B5 was came: It was the end of cold war and JMS told an story about the third age of mankind. It was an great feel of freedom and mind opening at this time. But what we have this days? Pandemic, depressive feelings, hate and intolerance. All of this wil reflect in B5 reboot. Would it be possible that people would like it? Yes. Would it be possible that I would like it? I think no.

PS: Please excuse my limited english, I do not know if I can convey my philosophic toughts correctly ;-)