Babylon 5 Movie through Studio JMS

[moreorless]

And immediately increase the budget by another 100 million. I don't know what Cruise gets paid these days but I think he would be more drain than draw.

$200 million with Cruise would I'd imagine be easier to raise than $100 million without a big star, again not that I'm really pushing for him although I could see him playing a Sinclair like character.

[Nastastu]

One thing that actually strikes me is that if the film were based on the Earth/Minbari war or flashbacks to it thats very much the territory of a certain Mr Cruise, Alien invasions with a bit of mystery around the protagonist have been his speciality in recent years. He certainly wouldn't be my first choice as a lead but it would doubtless make getting the budget much easier if he were.

And immediately increase the budget by another 100 million. I don't know what Cruise gets paid these days but I think he would be more drain than draw.

[moreorless]

Yeah, it's definitely going to need more than the existing fan base. I think Serenity, the Firefly movie taught us that, even as motivated as all of those fans are/were. It's definitely a hurdle that will have to be overcome since the big SF movies that JMS has written (Silver Surfer, Forbidden Planet, Lensman) all seem to have fallen into development hell and not escaped.

Jan

A B5 film would have the advantage though that whilst the existing fan base won't turn a profit they will be an insurance policy against it totally bombing. A lot of the time I think that's what Hollywood is actually after with these existing properties, making sure you don't have a Pluto Nash on your hands.

A big factor with budget as well I'd imagine is the kind of cast your looking at. One thing that actually strikes me is that if the film were based on the Earth/Minbari war or flashbacks to it thats very much the territory of a certain Mr Cruise, Alien invasions with a bit of mystery around the protagonist have been his speciality in recent years. He certainly wouldn't be my first choice as a lead but it would doubtless make getting the budget much easier if he were.

[DaveNarn]

Guardians Of The Galaxy cost a lot to make - and I wonder how much of that went into just advertising?
Except to comic book geeks, this was a pretty obscure story but it did well with a worldwide gross of over $774 million.


..so maybe with the current Batman, Superman, Spiderman fatigue..a B5 Movie stands a chance of being another dark horse.

[Jan]

Yeah, it's definitely going to need more than the existing fan base. I think Serenity, the Firefly movie taught us that, even as motivated as all of those fans are/were. It's definitely a hurdle that will have to be overcome since the big SF movies that JMS has written (Silver Surfer, Forbidden Planet, Lensman) all seem to have fallen into development hell and not escaped.

Jan

[moreorless]

Which does seem more realistic than the $150-200 million for the really top of the tree releases although it is getting to the level where your talking serious takings to turn a profit, likely well beyond an existing B5 fanbase.

[Jan]

When he announced the movie he said

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.

And afterwards he clarified that for the B5 movie itself he's looking at $80-100 million.

Jan

[moreorless]

Have there been hints at exactly how much money where looking at? the typical mega blockbuster seems to be $150+ million but I'm not sure that's essential with B5.

Obviously changes could be made but the advantage of this kind of production in the first place was that the production wasn't THAT expensive, less need for massive sets and space battle FX can be good deal simpler and that a lot of more "personal" FX work(CGI characters for example).

With todays technology I would think JMS could put something pretty impression together with $50 million and that lowers the threshold for success significantly.

[Dan Dassow]

I was surprised to find out that the US Securities and Exchange Commission regulates investment in films. Those regulations have been loosened today.

Why Mom-and-Pop Film Funding May Not Be Good for Hollywood
Movies | By Todd Cunningham on March 27, 2015 @ 5:00 am

http://www.thewrap.com/why-mom-and-pop-film-funding-may-not-be-good-for-hollywood/

When mainstream investors lose their money, or get bilked and sue, it’s going to make trouble for the movie biz

John and Joanne Q. Public can bankroll movies now and count on getting rich doing it, thanks to the approval of a key provision in President Obama’s JOBS Act this week that allows nearly every American to invest in films and other startup businesses.

But the new regulations approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission aren’t necessarily a good thing for the public. First, they may not be able to afford qualifying. And if they do qualify, they’re far more likely to lose money than they are to get rich in the extremely high-return, higher-risk film business.

While lowering the standards that formerly restricted film investing to the wealthy in order to protect the little guy creates a new revenue stream, both indies and the studios could be hurt in the long run. ...

[Jan]

All I can tell you is that he said he was looking for investors. Not a loan. Two different terms with two different connotations. And in financial investment terms, getting ten people tot put up two hundred million dollars isn't large scale at all.

I'm thinking it's more likely to be along the lines of JMS picking up the phone and saying, "Hey, [insert incredibly wealthy showbiz mogul here], I was just thinking about that script you bought from me a while ago for [lots and lots of money] and I wanted to give you a shot at investing in this studio I've started. It's a multi-format company for producing films and TV and comics and stuff. So far it's made the upcoming 'Sense8' for Netflix and there are two others in pre-production. Next year I'm thinking of starting work on a couple of movies. Does that interest you at all? How about I send you a prospectus?"

ETA: Needless to say, this is all the sheerest speculation.

Jan

[Triple F]

But wouldn’t this kind of financing be more akin to a bank lending money to a business. The business plan wouldn’t be limited to saying something like ‘we’re a production studio’. It would have to include why they want the money, and a detailed breakdown of what they’re going to spend it on.

I’d be surprised if the (most likely experienced in the entertainment industry) investors didn’t also install an accountant and possibly an experienced management team to ensure that the money is used for purpose….. Then again they might just – because this is what doing otherwise basically amounts to - take jms’s word that he has some kick ass ideas were to spend the money. Come on Jan, your kidding yourself on if you think large scale professional investors won’t involve themselves in what jms will be doing (including looking at the market), and that involvement will be on-going.

Saying that. The involvement doesn’t necessarily have to go as deep as providing notes like a studio does, when something is in production (but I wouldn’t rule it out). So at an artistic level, these investors might give jms a fair amount of freedom. But to suggest they’ll hand over the cash and then don’t have much say in what it is spent on is, I’d suggest, naive in the extreme.

[Jan]

Really!? I don’t know how Hollywood works, but that seems to be a bit of an unbelievable idea. A group of (presumably) professional and experienced investors will just hand over 100million + to jms and “won’t have much say in how the money is spent”…….. I know it’s sometimes referred to as the dream factory, but no, I don’t think that’s how it works.

Whoever owns 51% of the company gets to decide what happens. Doesn't matter if it's a corner store or megabusiness, that's how it works. Obviously there would be business plans and the investors would have to be comfortable with the vision and prospects for the company but they won't have any real decision making power any more than shareholders have over (for instance) Heinz over what new product they're going to introduce. If the investors don't like it, they can sell their shares but that's about it.

Jan

[Triple F]

As for the 'raising money', remember he's not necessarily looking for investors for just the movie but for the studio in general. For the most part, the investors won't have much say in how the money's spent, though of course they'll need to know the general purpose and goals.

Really!? I don’t know how Hollywood works, but that seems to be a bit of an unbelievable idea. A group of (presumably) professional and experienced investors will just hand over 100million + to jms and “won’t have much say in how the money is spent”…….. I know it’s sometimes referred to as the dream factory, but no, I don’t think that’s how it works. Why am I getting flash backs and the song “Spring time for Hitler” in my head.

The flip side to what Looney said (which is a genuine concern I think), is all that it takes is for one of those reboots to be a success, and the number of them will probably mushroom in an attempt to find another.

[Jan]

There always have been and always will be reboots and remakes. I don't think they'll ever fall out of style.

Got your PM and just answered. Sorry for the delay!

Jan

[Looney]

What's to report, though? "I still plan on writing a movie script this year but haven't gotten to it yet."? As for the 'raising money', remember he's not necessarily looking for investors for just the movie but for the studio in general. For the most part, the investors won't have much say in how the money's spent, though of course they'll need to know the general purpose and goals.

Jan

HA! How about the script is done?! And if investors in the studio in general know that the studio is planning to fund a reboot in a time of failed reboots and so on and so on. Anyway like I said, I just hit the panic button.

And did you get my PM Jan?