Babylon 5 Movie through Studio JMS

[Ubik]

JMS stated again that he still plans to write the script later this year at his panel at SDCC last month. Can't really be any news other than that.

With Sense8 Season 2 now confirmed, Red Mars in the works, and comics commitments falling by the wayside, how likely do folks think this is?

I want it to happen as much as the next B5 nut, but part of me thinks it's pretty unrealistic whilst Sense8 is doing well and ongoing.

[Jan]

With Sense8 Season 2 now confirmed, Red Mars in the works, and comics commitments falling by the wayside, how likely do folks think this is?

Red Mars is a pilot. The script is done and JMS is working on the bible according to his recent Tweet. So unless it actually shoots the pilot and/or goes to series, that's not much of a time-sink.

Sense8 of course is a different story but even when B5 was in process JMS found time to write various other things. I'm thinking that the writing part isn't any drawback. The actual making, though, that's a different story. Look how often 'The Flickering Light' has been set back.

Jan

[Ubik]

Red Mars is a pilot. The script is done and JMS is working on the bible according to his recent Tweet. So unless it actually shoots the pilot and/or goes to series, that's not much of a time-sink.

Sense8 of course is a different story but even when B5 was in process JMS found time to write various other things. I'm thinking that the writing part isn't any drawback. The actual making, though, that's a different story. Look how often 'The Flickering Light' has been set back.

Jan

Good point Jan. I also forget that JMS seems to be constantly writing, all hours of the day! The struggle won't be writing it, it'll be getting it made. Hopefully us fans can do our part when that transpires!

I'd STILL like to see 'The Flickering Light' get the green light. The subject matter alone was interesting enough to warrant it being made.

[Looney]

I am hopeful because it is an old imaginary universe that JMS is very familiar with. JMS likely already has old ideas and things written out, including 5 seasons of scripts, mulitple movies, and spinoffs, that just need to be tweaked, organized, and updated. My hope is that his biggest struggle is just getting focused on getting back into the B5 Universe. Once he is in the zone and starts organizing and writing I am sure the ideas will flow quite quickly. He just needs to start it. He'll likely have a first draft in no time, which is good because I want him to have time to go back and make it perfect.

[Vorlon_Stacy]

I'm sorry, if I may be ask a question that has already been answered, but I'm new to this forum and I looked through this thread, but I haven't read the whole 21 pages, hope you don't mind it
What I want to understand is if it's already known if there's gonna be a movie with the new or the old characters? If there are gonna be the new characters, will the place be still B5 or some alternative similar reality? Does anyone know what years would it be?
Cause if there is gonna be an alternative reality with completely new characters, it would be interesting to see the old actors playing new roles (cause as far as I understood JMS wants to bring the old actors to the new movie, right?).
But if there is going to be the same time period and the same characters on B5, due to the actors' s current age, these characters should be played by other actors. And as for me, I can't really imagine seeing the old actors playing the new roles in the same B5 reality, while others play their previous characters, especially when it comes to Bruce and Mira. I actually can't imagine hearing Bruce's voice and seeing him playing someone else in the B5 universe, while someone else plays Sheridan. The same with Delenn.
So, as for me, I think it would be better to see an alternative reality with the new characters. Otherwise, it would be great to see the action taking place in the late 70th-early 80th, this way the old actors will be more or less the same age as their characters. It would be great to see something of what is written in the trilogy about the Centauri Prime, especially what happened in the book3 (although this means finding someone new to play GKar or excluding this character at all), and also something new that isn’t in the book but happened in that years, and may be to see some of David Sheridan’s story.
What do you think about it? Or maybe there’s already an answer to all my questions?
P.S. And sorry for such a long post

[Ubik]

Hi Stacy, welcome to the forums! Here's a recap of what JMS has said thus far, this should clarify things. This is all we know at this point. And yes, it would be a reboot of the series, with new actors, with possible cameos by old favourites in different roles. No update on the status of the script but JMS promised it would be written this year.

JMS recaps what'ss coming up and then:

So we’ve been having a really, really good year at Studio JMS. And where that comes in handy – where it’s kind of important involves this (B5 logo comes on screen).

So… Fact: When I made the Babylon 5 deal with Warner Bros. it was just short of indentured servitude. Financially, I’ll never seen a dime out of Babylon 5 ever. I have no problems with that; I knew what I was signing when I go into it, but I mention it to piss them off every once in a while. One thing that I was able to withhold was the film rights. I still own the movie rights to Babylon 5. I’ve been pushing Warner’s for the last…ever since the early cretaceous period…to “Let’s do a Babylon 5 movie – a proper big budget feature film.” And they’ve always dragged their feet [because] that’s what Warner Bros. does. They knew that they had the upper hand because I couldn’t take it to any other studio because these days all the studios want all the rights. So if I brought it to say, Sony or Fox, they’d want the TV rights which Warner Bros. controls. Warner Bros. will never give those rights up so we were always handcuffed by that.

Turns out, however, there’s one studio in Los Angeles…Distributors, by the way, don’t care about the TV rights. Distributors just [care] about the movie, they don’t care about the TV part. There’s one studio in town that doesn’t care if it doesn’t have the TV rights…that wants to see this movie made and will do it with or without Warner Bros. (Studio JMS logo comes on screen).

Here’s the plan: We’re going to have, through Studio JMS, at least two, maybe three TV series on the air next year. We’re going to have at least one or two movies going ahead. And we’ll use that to parlay serious investment in the studio. I’m not talking Kickstarter, I’m talking about one hundred million dollars, two hundred million dollars; we already have people who are lined up and interested in doing that.

So in 2015 I will write a Babylon 5 screenplay. I’ll be giving Warner Bros. the opportunity – if they want to step up, “Help yourself”. If they don’t, 2016: We make it. I’m not going to wait around for more of our cast members to die. So that’s the long term plan and those are the current updates on everything that’s going on right now.

Question from a fan: Asked if JMS might crowd-fund for a million of the investment so that fans can be part of it.

JMS: I would rather now. Here’s the reason why, though. I come from the ranks of fandom – I’m as rank as any of you. To me, much as I understand that Kickstarter and crowd-sourcing are a way for those outside to get involved with the process, show their appreciation for the process, I am resistant to that lure because it feels to me like taking advantage of the fans and I have a hard time with that on a moral and ethical basis. I’d rather have an investor come up and say “Here’s a check for a hundred million dollars” - which I would gladly take, by the way; if anyone in the audience happens to have one of those lying around, let me know – than to come to the fans and try to get it. Science fiction fans, and horror fans, to a degree, are the most exploited folks out there. “Line up, buy the merchandise, watch the show.” And I just see this money suck happening. So the answer is no.

Question from a fan: Are you considering a reboot to bring in new viewers or are you thinking of a continuation with the cast and crew from the original series.

JMS: It would have to be a reboot because it’s now been twenty-plus years since we started that show and some of the age ranges wouldn’t always work with some of the characters. So we’d have to move a few people around. But what I want to do is use the original cast one way or the other and move a few things around. I’d love to see Bruce as President of the Earth Alliance; that would be the perfect role for him.

I love playing around with the cast anyway. The one story that I wanted to do for the original B5 and they wouldn’t let me do it was, when Londo was injured and had this dream sequence, I wanted to have different actors play different roles. So Jerry Doyle would play Londo. Claudia Christian would play Delenn and Delenn (Mira) would play Ivanova. Peter Jurasik would play Jerry Doyle’s role. Andreas Katsulas would be the Commander of the Station and Bruce would be G’Kar. They said, “People would be way too confused.” JMS: “They won’t be confused, trust me! Listen, they have the intelligence for this.” It was the only story that they said “No, no, no, no and by the way, no.” The chance to [ ] play around with the cast and have some fun with it could be a good thing.

[Vorlon_Stacy]

Thanks a lot, Ubik! However, it's not really clear...

But what I want to do is use the original cast one way or the other and move a few things around. I d love to see Bruce as President of the Earth Alliance; that would be the perfect role for him.

The question is, will this be an alternative B5 reality or the same reality with the old characters? Will someone else play Sheridan while Bruce plays the President of the Earth Alliance? (I really hope, not..) Or will there be no Sheridan at all and there will be someone else instead of him? Will Bruce play one of the presidents of the Earth Alliance we have already seen (Santiago, Clark?) (hope not) or some other alternative President?
However, from the last paragraph it really seems there are going to be the same familiar characters played by other actors: Sheridan, Delenn, Londo, GKar, Garibaldi, etc... Maybe it's not that bad, but still I'd rather hope for an alternative B5 reality with everyone new...

[Ubik]

Thanks a lot, Ubik! However, it's not really clear...

The question is, will this be an alternative B5 reality or the same reality with the old characters? Will someone else play Sheridan while Bruce plays the President of the Earth Alliance? (I really hope, not..) Or will there be no Sheridan at all and there will be someone else instead of him? Will Bruce play one of the presidents of the Earth Alliance we have already seen (Santiago, Clark?) (hope not) or some other alternative President?
However, from the last paragraph it really seems there are going to be the same familiar characters played by other actors: Sheridan, Delenn, Londo, GKar, Garibaldi, etc... Maybe it's not that bad, but still I'd rather hope for an alternative B5 reality with everyone new...

As far as I can discern, Bruce would not be Sheridan, he's now too old for the role. That is if there even is a Sheridan in the reboot!

I don't have time to ferret it out, but I feel sure JMS said that there would be the same general roles, ie. Narn ambassador, Centauri ambassador, security chief, captain, etc, but that they wouldn't necessarily be Londo, or G'Kar, etc... It would be a full reboot, and whilst we would recongnise key things from the original this could be different.

I don't think he'd be interested in telling the exact same story again. But that just my own feeling. Guess we'll have to wait and see. And the film happening is still a big 'IF'.

[Vorlon_Stacy]

As far as I can discern, Bruce would not be Sheridan, he's now too old for the role.

Yes, that's clear (if the years are still the late 50th-early 60th, while if late 70th- early 80th - then why not?)

That is if there even is a Sheridan in the reboot!

That is actually a good question, and since it won't be played by Bruce, I hope Sheridan isn't there at all (the same for the other main characters).

I don't have time to ferret it out, but I feel sure JMS said that there would be the same general roles, ie. Narn ambassador, Centauri ambassador, security chief, captain, etc, but that they wouldn't necessarily be Londo, or G'Kar, etc...

It would be good to see an alternative reality!

And the film happening is still a big 'IF'.

Let's hope it happens

[Ubik]

I do always wonder if JMS might revert back to some of the original story arc that would have existed if Michael O'Hare / Sinclair had remained the commanding officer of B5. What we got was definitely more interesting, Valen, etc... but it could be cool to see slight, perhaps even radical, diversions from established B5 lore and timelines.

[Jan]

I don't have time to ferret it out, but I feel sure JMS said that there would be the same general roles, ie. Narn ambassador, Centauri ambassador, security chief, captain, etc, but that they wouldn't necessarily be Londo, or G'Kar, etc... It would be a full reboot, and whilst we would recongnise key things from the original this could be different.

I don't recall seeing anything like that. Best I recall is the post where JMS talked about his view of a reboot when talking about the TV series that fell through. About the most detail in that was that there wouldn't be a physical G'Kar character.

http://jmsnews.com/forums/showpost.php?p=122853&postcount=139

Take G'Kar, for instance. In my notes, there is no new character named G'Kar because for my money, no one else can ever BE G'Kar, so G'Kar is a religious figure, a legend, not unlike G'Quon.

Despite what some folks say, the fact is that saying "reboot" is like saying "science fiction," it means what you're pointing at, and there are all kinds of permutations of what that means. It (and remember we're talking about something that is not currently on the boards) can't be a straight-ahead sequel because the market can't sustain it when the show hasn't been on the air in the US in over a decade. That's never, ever going to fly. It can't be called Babylon 5 if there isn't a place called Babylon 5, so the station has to be in existence, otherwise you can't use that name. You could do a show about the telepath war, but you couldn't call it Babylon 5 unless there's a Babylon 5 there, otherwise it'll confuse the hell out of new audiences (oh, that's named for a station that used to be there in another series you never saw).

The challenge I set for myself in this is very simple: knowing what I know now, having grown a lot as a writer since 1992 (or for that matter the late 80s when I started writing the pilot), having the experience of the original show in what worked and what didn't, and with all the technology available to us now that wasn't there in 1992, if I were to put the show together right now, what would it look like? That, for my money, is what a reboot is

So all we've got is that JMS wants to use the original actors as other characters and that he still seems to be sticking with what he said earlier that nobody would ever play G'Kar again.

Some people are thinking that JMS might go back to the outline that we saw in Volume 15 of the script books where Sinclair stayed all 5 years but that seems to me to be ignoring that it's a feature film, not a series. (Oops, I see that Ubik brought that up! )

Me, I think that JMS will probably come up with something completely different from anything we might expect! Cause that's what he does.

Jan

[Vorlon_Stacy]

I do always wonder if JMS might revert back to some of the original story arc that would have existed if Michael O'Hare / Sinclair had remained the commanding officer of B5. What we got was definitely more interesting, Valen, etc... but it could be cool to see slight, perhaps even radical, diversions from established B5 lore and timelines.

I totally agree that what we got was really interesting and when I was watching WWE I had a feeling as if the Sinclair/Valen story had been meant to be there from the beginning, it was such a cool idea.
But yes, it would be interesting to know the alternative version, especially what would have happened in WWE if Sinclair had remained the commanding officer of B5... As JMS said he had made a draft for the WWE while writing the Babylon Squared script, what had he been planning to do with Sinclair? Would he have still become Valen and travelled to the past or would he have remained on B5 and stayed with Delenn? I read somewhere that Delenn would have travelled to the past later to join Siclair (already Valen), but I don't remember where I read it, may be it was just some fan's idea... Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Speaking about the alternatives, what I would also like to know is what would have happened if Sheridan hadn't gone to Z'ha'dum...

[Vorlon_Stacy]

Some people are thinking that JMS might go back to the outline that we saw in Volume 15 of the script books where Sinclair stayed all 5 years

Where can I read more about it?

[Ubik]

Where can I read more about it?

As the Vol.15 script books go for silly money, here's a rough synopsis a fan posted on the Trek BBS:

http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=53739

[Vorlon_Stacy]

Thank you, Ubik!
Well, yes, the version we got really seems much better! The description of the seasons seems quite boring, but the last part, BABYLON PRIME, seems really interesting. To my mind, it would have been much better to set a base for the Interstellar Alliance on a neutral territory and not on a specific planet, so the B4 in the original version suited quite well the purpose. However, if JMS wanted the Alliance to remain on the neutral territory, I suppose in the actual version he could have let the Alliance's headquarters stay on B5 instead of moving them to the Mimbar. And as it didn’t do so, this means he didn’t want to. While in the actual version the B4 served a much more interesting target being moved to the past.
It's also interesting to see some of the David’s possible storyline in the original version.
Also, it seems according to the review that there was not gonna be a big love story between Denenn and Sinclair (it seems more like merely fulfilling the prophesy), as it was between Delenn and Sheridan, as I can't imagine why Delenn and Sheridan would have decided to separate, while Delenn and Sinclair did.

And this notion seems quite funny:
"Final scene is Sinclair, retired, alone on an otherwise uninhabited world....fishing. "

Anyway, I think what we got is definitely better.