Babylon 5 Movie through Studio JMS

[babylonlurker]

I'm not that worried about it being done "correctly". Like others have mentioned, this is Joe's baby. I don't think he's going to do something stupid here that undermines his legacy. It's not like this is George Lucas ...
...
So I wouldn't expect him to retell the story with prettier people and bigger explosions. It doesn't make any sense on any level, and there are a number of tangential stories within the main timeframe to tell or brand new stories that have been running through his brain for the last 20 years. I'm sure it will be fine. Personally, though, I just hope it's not telepaths. I'm tired of that stuff.

Quite right, Trust JMS, trust yourself, everyone else - shoot'em (paraphrased Ivanova quote)

[Looney]

I'm not that worried about it being done "correctly". Like others have mentioned, this is Joe's baby. I don't think he's going to do something stupid here that undermines his legacy. It's not like this is George Lucas ...

What I am interested to see, though, is whether Joe can craft a really good 2-hour story. It's my opinion that his greatest strength as a writer is epic scope, and B5's best attributes were the long story and character arcs. You can't really do that stuff in a 2-hour film, and I can't think of any self-contained short-form content Joe has done that really stands out to me. Sure, there are certain B5 episodes that are spectacular, but their greatness is informed by hours upon hours of setup. It doesn't mean he can't do it -- it's just something that stands out to me when I hear this news.

To put people's fears at ease, can anyone seriously imagine a 2-hour movie that does justice to Londo or G'Kar's arc, the Shadow War, the retaking of Earth, or any of the major plot points of the show? So I wouldn't expect him to retell the story with prettier people and bigger explosions. It doesn't make any sense on any level, and there are a number of tangential stories within the main timeframe to tell or brand new stories that have been running through his brain for the last 20 years. I'm sure it will be fine. Personally, though, I just hope it's not telepaths. I'm tired of that stuff.

I think that maybe a reboot should take place during something like the Dilgar war and end with the established need for the Babylon Project. A stand alone story that establishes a future arc. Do it as a movie that can stand on its own. This way people involved in the feature can be left out of a series or be part of a series, even a series of sequel movies. It is highly likely that it might be something completely different, but it can't be too far from what the original spark was. I don't mean the original arc. I mean the original premise of a U.N. in space.

And things I don't want to see:
- Ghost Stories or anything that can be deemed supernatural of a religious nature.
- Everyone being amoral.
- Time travel scenarios if at all possible, though JMS has done some of the only time travel story telling I've ever found acceptable.
- A really vast departure from the original in theme, tone, and storytelling, i.e. a story about ghosts haunting a space station because it is all part of God's plan to punish the amoral characters who traveled through time to live in a place that is the den of darkest evil.

[Jan]

Let's remember to be careful about story ideas. Yeah, I know it's vanishingly unlikely that JMS ever visits but it's part of the guidelines. (Yeah, I know none of these were serious - I just have to remind people from time to time)

Jan

[Looney]

What a painful reminder. I guess I'll save my brilliant speculation for other realms of the internet. It is for the best. I don't want JMS stealing any of my ideas.

[Dan Dassow]

Let's remember to be careful about story ideas. Yeah, I know it's vanishingly unlikely that JMS ever visits but it's part of the guidelines. (Yeah, I know none of these were serious - I just have to remind people from time to time)

Jan

Jan,

If you had not posted the reminder regarding story ideas, I certainly would have. The thought that errant fan speculation and stories ideas could torpedo the B5 movie is rather painful.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passing_Through_Gethsemane#Production_details

Passing Through Gethsemane was originally developed for the show's second season but had to be "scuttled" because a fan posted a story idea on GEnie that was very similar to the plot of the episode. Legal steps had to be taken to clear the situation up before the story could be put back into the production pipeline.

[babylonlurker]

Jan,

If you had not posted the reminder regarding story ideas, I certainly would have. The thought that errant fan speculation and stories ideas could torpedo the B5 movie is rather painful.pipeline.

If I recall correctly, someone said (could have been JMS) that the best way *not* to get a story idea made is to publish the idea for JMS to see, at least something to that effect.

[sarthaz]

If I recall correctly, someone said (could have been JMS) that the best way *not* to get a story idea made is to publish the idea for JMS to see, at least something to that effect.

In that case, I have a great idea for a film centered around Byron ...

[babylonlurker]

In that case, I have a great idea for a film centered around Byron ...

Oh, yes the "beloved Byron"

....

[Delenn_of_Mir]

Oooh, going with the spirit of things...

I want a movie where every original character is exactly the same but played by different actors.

Here is my wish list: Sinclair - Arnold S (Terminator)
Delenn - Justin Bieber
Londo - Robert Pattinson
G'kar - Cole and Dylan Sprouse
Sheridan - Tracy Spiridakos
Lennier - Justin Bieber
Na'Toth - Miley Cyrus
Vir - Logan Huffman
Talia - Kristen Stewart
Lyta - Kristen Stewart
Dr. Stephen - Billy Ray Cyrus
Byron - Justin Bieber
Bester - dies in first episode

[DaveNarn]

I would love to see the cast of DS9 do a B5 episode for a giggle.. or would that make the universe explode?

[Dan Dassow]

Oooh, going with the spirit of things...

I want a movie where every original character is exactly the same but played by different actors.

Here is my wish list: Sinclair - Arnold S (Terminator)
Delenn - Justin Bieber
Londo - Robert Pattinson
G'kar - Cole and Dylan Sprouse
Sheridan - Tracy Spiridakos
Lennier - Justin Bieber
Na'Toth - Miley Cyrus
Vir - Logan Huffman
Talia - Kristen Stewart
Lyta - Kristen Stewart
Dr. Stephen - Billy Ray Cyrus
Byron - Justin Bieber
Bester - dies in first episode

Unfortunately casting choices do not constitute a story idea.

[Dan Dassow]

I would love to see the cast of DS9 do a B5 episode for a giggle.. or would that make the universe explode?

Much like if jms and I ever met face-to-face.

[Marsden]

... I realise people love the show, but for me personally, there was stuff going on that should never have been called Battlestar Galactica. They should've called it something else. As I said, it's just my opinion though.

This is exactly what bothered me and I just could NOT get past it. I don't really even know if I might have enjoyed it, in some way, but after I watched the 4 hour miniseries I couldn't stand the thought of watching anymore. If it was a whole new thing, I might have liked it, but it stole the name and character names from something I liked, rendering that completely dead, and made some other thing out of it. I hardly ever watched Voyager, but one of the handful of them I saw had these aliens that stole body parts to survive and one of them stole one of the generic crew person's face and had it sewed on as it's own face. Everytime someone reboots something I think of that scene. I can't seem to forget that because it was so creepy, the alien actually thought it would be easier to deal with him because he had "a familiar face" but that's exactly what studios are doing with all of this remaking/rebooting going on.

Back to B5...

I'm guessing, with JMS here, there will be No Bester, No Psicorps, No Sheridan, No Sinclair, No Valen, No Londo, No G'kar, and No Delenn, and possibly No Shadows or Vorlons. He will almost certainly make a whole new story and a whole new universe. And, as I said in the middle of my previous bitching, that's my main hope, a whole new thing that he makes and it's good. No robbing the graves of our beloved characters. No character introduced as "Sheridan" and then the story flies on without any real type of introduction because were supposed to know who he is because of who he was on some past show. Cough New Star Trek. puke.

[Jan]

He will almost certainly make a whole new story and a whole new universe.

Then that's not Babylon 5, is it?

Jan

[Jonas]

It's peculiar. As an artist, I understand the desire for a reboot - a chance to explore the show's themes from other angles, with modern technology. Seeing the visual quality of modern sci-fi TV/film does make you wonder how great it would be to see Babylon 5 like that. And the freedom of doing a reboot lets you engage with a new audience without all the baggage of a show they haven't seen and the confusion introduced by Crusade and Legend of the Rangers... it could be exhilarating.

On the other hand, as someone who loves the original deeply, who loves those specific characters, those specific episodes... as someone who loves the show as it is, considers it one of the great storytelling achievements of our time... it's not easy to take. Part of me doesn't want to see the same actors playing different characters, or the story happening in a different way.

But it's JMS, so I'm definitely not going to judge the result before seeing it.