JMS' year-end round-up

[Jan]

In keeping with tradition, JMS replied to a request for an update:

Title: Re: JMS: The time has come...
Author: [email protected]
Date: 12 Dec 2006 22:35:28 -0800
Message-ID: <[email protected] com>

Jan wrote:
> ..the Vorlon said, to speak of many things.
>
> Of feature films,
>
> and TV shows,
>
> of comic books and things.
>
> Of why your keyboard's boiling hot and whether Narns have wings. (with apologies
> to Lewis Carroll)
>
> Or in other words, how about the traditional year-end update on all things
> Straczynski? What can you tell us (and what can you hint) about the above and
> any other short stories, radio dramas, plays, video games, songs, dances,
> pilots, anthologies, DVDs, novels, scripts, animation, columns, interviews,
> conventions etc., etc. that you might be involved in?

The screenplay for the film I'm writing for Universal will be turned in
mid-January. Akiva Goldsman is among the producers on this project, a
big budget historical movie based on the life of King David.

This week the outline for the film I'm writing for Paramount will be
turned in to the studio. I'm still waiting for the PR department to
announce the project so I can't yet identify it. I can say though that
it's for Brad Pitt's Plan B productions.

Coming down on the other side of finishing these scripts, I now have to
decide which of four projects currently in front of me I'll take to
write starting in January. They range the gamut from another
historical movie, to an adaptation, a remake of a *very* famous SF
film, and a movie based on a British series for a major actor. (And
no, it's not a British series that most genre people would know about,
a la Blake's 7 or the like.)

I had lunch with the President of Imagine Entertainment today, who let
me know that it is their intention to get Changeling in front of the
cameras by no later than late summer '07. A major star has committed,
but I can't release that name yet.

I checked back to see when The Adventures of Apocalypse Al would be
airing on CBC, and it turns out they were waiting for any last minute
notes from me on the finished product before locking and scheduling.
My oops.

>
> Oh, and how's post-production going on TLT?
>

I turned in the director's/producer's cut last Friday, the studio
viewed it yesterday, loved what they saw, and now we've locked the cut.
Friday I have a music spotting session with Chris Franke, and up
north, Atmosphere is churning out CGI as fast as they can. (We're not
going for the shakey-cam look that BSG has made something of its house
style in order to not poach, out of courtesy. Our production offices
at the Vancouver Film Studios were right next door to the BSG offices,
incidentally. And just two stages down they were shooting the Fanastic
Four sequel.)

Fairly soon, probably starting late January, the director's blogs will
start showing up on the net. I can't tell you how much I hate being in
front of the camera.

The script for my pilot, Borrowed Lives, went to the network last week,
and we should hear a yes or no fairly soon on whether we go into
production.

Because it's hard to get another show going when you'd be in second
position contractually, we're waiting to see if Borrowed Lives gets
picked up before going out to the networks with Rising Stars, which I'm
developing with Sam Raimi's company.

I'm three issues into Thor, four issues into the secret project I'm
writing for Marvel, Spider-Ham comes out shortly (couldn't love it
more), Bullet Points 2 comes out this week, and in general I'm keeping
busy.

jms

Jan

[Jan]

And in answer to some follow-up questions:

Title: Re: JMS: The time has come...
Author: [email protected]
Date: 13 Dec 2006 02:13:43 -0800
Message-ID: <[email protected] om>

Jan wrote:
> In the past you've been pretty lukewarm about doing features because of the
> difference in influence the writer has in features as compared to TV. With the
> raised profile you've gained in selling 'The Changeling' to Ron Howard, are you
> able to keep any more control or are you just trying to choose your projects
> carefully?
>

The difference is fundamentally this: in the past, when meeting about
features, I (like 99% of all writers) went in at the lower levels,
studio development guys about nine rungs down, and it was always a crap
shoot if this was a real offer, how long they'd string you along, and
they didn't have the power to say yes in the room.

The Changeling script, and Ron's purchase thereof, changed everything.
I hopscotched right into the a-list, and now when I go in, it's a) on
really cool projects, b) I'm meeting with the heads of studios or heads
of production not development guys, these are people who can say yes in
the room, c) I'm also meeting directly with directors which is the best
way to get a film made, and d) these are straight-up offers by guys who
really *know* what a story is, who have good reps. It's not like
"here, here's 'Bloodsuckers from Outer Space,' go write it." They're
prestige projects.

It's honestly been rather breathtaking. And it shows what just one
script, if it's the right script, can do. And a lot of the guys I'm
meeting didn't even know about the TV background, didn't know or care
how old I was...it was all about the words, which should be encouraging
to anybody out there.

For a science fiction TV guy there's nothing weirder in the world than
(as was the case a few weeks ago) to go to a meeting at a production
company at the WB lot, find out it's George Clooney's office, and go in
and there he is, on the couch, and he waves me over to sit next to him.
"Come on, here, sit, tell me about what's new in your life."

There are times I feel like I'm wearing somebody else's life.

> I've seen reports that the latest Wizard magazine mentioned that you're leaving
> Amazing Spider-Man this coming year. Is that true?

I've been giving it a lot of thought, and what I've enjoyed writing the
most for Marvel have been the special projects, like Bullet Points, the
new one I'm writing, and I'm most especially happy with how Thor is
going. So I finally felt that the best thing I could do would be to
devote myself almost entirely to those projects...come up with really
cool 6, 12 or 18 issue special projects, in or out of ongoing titles,
or reviving titles, and keep Thor my own monthly mainstream Marvel
book, so I can give all of those the proper amount of attention.

The cool thing about this is that I get to play anywhere I want in the
Marvel universe, I can tell whatever stories I want without worrying
about continuity for the most part, and best of all the process calls
for the books to be fully written and drawn THEN solicited, so there
are no delays. So right now, on the new project, I'm 4 scripts in out
of 12, pencils are now coming in on issue 3, and we should have the
whole thing done before the first issue hits the stands. That, for me,
is the more satisfying way of doing things.

> And how many more issues of
> Fantastic Four will there be?

This next one is my last.

> Colleen Doran has said that Book of Lost Souls
> will be back next year. Any idea of a time frame?
>

Dunno, it's a function of when the first batch of pencils get turned
around.

jms

[frulad]

Hmmm... Remake of a *very* famous science-fiction film.

Well, I would immediately dismiss the idea of remaking anything from the 70s onward (though I would be intrigued by a JMS reworking of Close Encounters).

My guess on this is Forbidden Planet which is appropriate as the movie inspired the look of the Great Machine.

[AaronB]

Hmmm... Remake of a *very* famous science-fiction film.

Well, I would immediately dismiss the idea of remaking anything from the 70s onward (though I would be intrigued by a JMS reworking of Close Encounters).

My guess on this is Forbidden Planet which is appropriate as the movie inspired the look of the Great Machine.

The interesting news bit that I got out of the whole update was that they are filming a second Fantastic Four movie. How distressing.

[SmileOfTheShadow]

I feel like JMS wasn't very clear about his stance on ASM, but it sounds like he's taking off from the book. Great news about all of the films that seem to be coming up. I'm excited to get to see JMS on the big screen.

And even better with Babylon 5. I'm glad they didn't go with the shakey camera thing, it wouldn't have fit with the rest of the series. Amazing how fast this is all getting finished.

[Lunan]

I feel like JMS wasn't very clear about his stance on ASM, but it sounds like he's taking off from the book. Great news about all of the films that seem to be coming up. I'm excited to get to see JMS on the big screen.

And even better with Babylon 5. I'm glad they didn't go with the shakey camera thing, it wouldn't have fit with the rest of the series. Amazing how fast this is all getting finished.

i like how they say its not BSG style (don't get me wrong i love BSG) but its not b5

[WorkerCaste]

... a remake of a *very* famous SF film ...

OMG! He's remaking "Star Wars!"

[SmileOfTheShadow]

OMG! He's remaking "Star Wars!"

The scariest part...was that was my first sarcastic thought as well.

[Lunan]

i was thinking blade runner actully

[Ranger1]

OMG! He's remaking "Star Wars!"

LOL i wanted to say that

There's no chance in hell that Mr. Lucas will let his babies out of his hands.

i was thinking blade runner actully

You can't remake a perfect film, its just..... wrong.

[TurkishZath]

Guys, he's already got the connection with Bruce, he's remaking Tron.

[AmyG]

How about "Battlefield Earth"? Yeah, that's the ticket: he's remaking that sf classic, "Battlefield Earth."

[SmileOfTheShadow]

You know...I diiiid hear a rumor awhile back that they were going to be remaking Logan's Run.

[Joseph DeMartino]

Too many possibilities. New Line has been trying to get a remake of Forbidden Planet off the ground for years. JMS is one of the very few writers I'd trust to tackle that project, so I'm assuming he hasn't been offered it.

Somebody somewhere wondered aloud about The Andromeda Strain, but both it and The Thing are being remade as 4-hour mini-series for The Sci Fi Channel, which makes a theatrical version of either damned unlikely. (Although not technically impossible.)

War of the Worlds was recently botched, so figure 10 to 20 years before anyone takes a stab at it.

The Day the Earth Stood Still? Wise's version is very good indeed, but a little hokey in places and it is not utterly inconceivable that a modern take on the material could work. JMS certainly has the experience in working with mythic and religious themes in SF drag, so he'd be a logical candidate.

Part of the problem is that, when all is said and done, there haven't been that many really good SF movies - movies that are just good movies and that transcend genre the way that The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance transcends the western, Twelve Angry Men transcends the ordinary courtroom drama or The French Connection transcends the standard cop movie. Planet of the Apes has recently been redone. 2001 (I'm convinced) never will be. Let's face it - most SF movies of the past 50 years have been pretty bad, and even the good ones have mostly been "good for an SF movie" - meaning we don't expect too much depth or real drama. (Compare the best of the straight Trek films, Khan and First Contact to "real" movies of their year. Probably the franchise film that works best is the comedy - The Voyage Home.)

The Incredible Shrinking Man offers possibilities, though... and I'm sure I forgetting many other worthy candidates. Anyone care to help?

Joe

[Circular Reason]

Has anyone mentioned 'Flash Gordon' ? What about that classic ' Battle Beyond the Stars ', Or 70's UK childrens Sci-fi series 'The Tomorrow People '?