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Only post your letter here if it is not one of the standard-letters prepared some of our die-hard members here. These letters can be found at several places including the keepb5alive-site.
I sent his one to Warner Brothers today.
I sent his one to Warner Brothers today.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I have been a big fan of Babylon-5 for years now and I treasure the uniqueness of the series. I have always appreciated the great work Warner Brothers put into making Babylon-5 a success and have always realized the financial risks of producing an SF-series in direct competetion with the StarTrek franchise.
It give me great pleasure to see that you are releasing the DVD boxed sets and of course I already have all the region-2 seasons that are available.
Much to my surprise - and with great pleasure and pride - I heard that Warner Brothers has given the green light for the production of a theatrical movie about Babylon-5(TMoS). As you can understand, this is a great gift to a die-hard fan such as me.
Recently however, the rumourmill has started to work overtime and through these channels it has come to my attention that Warner Brothers is considering recasting the movie in favour of more established/famous actors. Though I can understand the reasons behind this logic, I must strongly protest against any recasting for Babylon-5/The Memory of Shadows if not absolutely necessary.
Perhaps Warner Brothers underestimates the audience Babylon-5 already has, although the sales-figures of the videos and DVD-boxes should be a clear indication of the size and loyalty of said audience.
Writer/producer/series-father J. Michael Straczinsky created a complete universe which cannot be seen separately from the people inhabiting it. As a matter of fact; the characters formed the storylines. In this respect I have always considered Babylon-5 akin to Hillstreet Blues, which was not your regular police-TV-series either but which was supported heavily by the character-development.
The character-changes through the Babylon-5 series built a strong emotional bond between the spectator and the on-screen characters. In my opinion it would be extremely unwise to replace established series-characters with new names 'just because they have sold other movies well'. I think you will find that although you may find a new audience, you will lose a considerable part of the old - and garantueed! - audience of Babylon-5. After all : what would the StarTrek-movies have been like without the interplay between Shatner, Nimoy and DeForest Kelley?
I sincerely hope you will use the original cast of the TV-series whenever possible and so retain the continuity of the B5-universe. I also wait for the day that the dream will have come true : a real honest to God featurefilm about Babylon-5.
Thank you for helping realizing that dream.
Yours truly,
<name>
The Netherlands
<email-address>
I have been a big fan of Babylon-5 for years now and I treasure the uniqueness of the series. I have always appreciated the great work Warner Brothers put into making Babylon-5 a success and have always realized the financial risks of producing an SF-series in direct competetion with the StarTrek franchise.
It give me great pleasure to see that you are releasing the DVD boxed sets and of course I already have all the region-2 seasons that are available.
Much to my surprise - and with great pleasure and pride - I heard that Warner Brothers has given the green light for the production of a theatrical movie about Babylon-5(TMoS). As you can understand, this is a great gift to a die-hard fan such as me.
Recently however, the rumourmill has started to work overtime and through these channels it has come to my attention that Warner Brothers is considering recasting the movie in favour of more established/famous actors. Though I can understand the reasons behind this logic, I must strongly protest against any recasting for Babylon-5/The Memory of Shadows if not absolutely necessary.
Perhaps Warner Brothers underestimates the audience Babylon-5 already has, although the sales-figures of the videos and DVD-boxes should be a clear indication of the size and loyalty of said audience.
Writer/producer/series-father J. Michael Straczinsky created a complete universe which cannot be seen separately from the people inhabiting it. As a matter of fact; the characters formed the storylines. In this respect I have always considered Babylon-5 akin to Hillstreet Blues, which was not your regular police-TV-series either but which was supported heavily by the character-development.
The character-changes through the Babylon-5 series built a strong emotional bond between the spectator and the on-screen characters. In my opinion it would be extremely unwise to replace established series-characters with new names 'just because they have sold other movies well'. I think you will find that although you may find a new audience, you will lose a considerable part of the old - and garantueed! - audience of Babylon-5. After all : what would the StarTrek-movies have been like without the interplay between Shatner, Nimoy and DeForest Kelley?
I sincerely hope you will use the original cast of the TV-series whenever possible and so retain the continuity of the B5-universe. I also wait for the day that the dream will have come true : a real honest to God featurefilm about Babylon-5.
Thank you for helping realizing that dream.
Yours truly,
<name>
The Netherlands
<email-address>