I don't know, every film project after Crusade hasn't been that great, and now, about 16 years after the show ended, I don't see this being what it could be even if it does go through.
ShadowDancerWhen I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie."London, UK
Well, I'm not going to count JMS out because...well, he's JMS!
I just caught wind of this on Facebook. Half of me is damn near in tears of joy, the other half very "uh huuuuh..." about it and skeptical of the idea. But hell, if it's JMS, and it's Babylon 5, my ass will be watching it. According to one Facebook feed, JMS stated it would have to be a reboot of the series. I dunno how I feel about that...
OK, a reboot sounds more interesting considering the fact that we're now pretty much at the point that the actors are the same age as they were supposed to be in Sleeping in Light.
Ohh... this was a good way to start my week! Fingers crossed!
Random ChaosActually Carefully-selected Order in disguise
It sounds interesting, wondering how the reboot aspect will affect it? Had to be done though since the appeal for a major movie needs to be bigger than people who were fans of the original B5 series.
In past interviews jms talked about his casting process, where he looks at who is the best actor for the role regardless of their ethnicity or even gender. I have a feeling it would be a What If? What if the Babylon story happened to a different group of people and personality combinations? While general plot points of the movie would probably resemble something we have seen before, the unfolding of the story and the minutiae of the character development would be different.
I just got tingles from this! For some reason I think of the artist who did the shadow Babylon 6! What if the shadows won for like a galactic dark age? I do not own the writes to this idea.
I expect the reboot will be telling the story JMS originally had planned, with Sinclair all the way through and a movie for each year of the story.
What I'm finding difficult is even if you remove all the filler from B5, it's hard to imagine getting even the season 1 story elements into one movie.
As much as I liked Crusade, I think I'd rather see that rebooted and change the timeframe to be 15 years after B5, not 5. That way original cast members from B5 can still be in it as themselves and we'll get the whole story that has been left unresolved for far too long.
Crusade was supposed to be about empire building, and I would love to see that in the post 20 year time frame.
ShadowDancerWhen I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie."London, UK
The trouble with doing anything with Crusade is that it relies on people knowing what has been going on in the broader B5 universe, and most people aren't going to get all that backstory
I think it could be done. Some things would have to be done early in series or as a pilot, such as the plague. I think the overall story would be stronger if it didn't assume the audience knew the entire backstory. Your favourite book to TV/Movie are probably good examples of this. Elronds Council, every Game of Thrones feast, etc.
I would wager more audience members are character development focused over world building and backstory focused anyways.
ShadowDancerWhen I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie."London, UK
Yeah thats a good point. I guess I'm looking at it from a longtime fan's point of view, so I would notice the differences, but the average new viewer wouldn't
Biggles<font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
Crusade could be done with a five-minute opening speel of the background. It worked for Lord of the Rings.
The comment threads on the AVClub review had an interesting notion on how this should be done.
Basically it should be either a trilogy or 5 movie project. All the fluff would be taken out, leaving just the important stuff...basically, the Narn/Centauri War, Shadow War, Earth Civil War, and maybe if there's time at the end, the Telepath War. One commenter even suggested completly eliminating the Earth/Minbari War from the movies, and have the 5 minute prolouge be able the Icarus leaving for Z'ha'dum. Which would eliminate the Line and the Valen story (and just having the station start with Sheridan). Even though no one else said it, that actually led me to think....why Babylon 5? Without the Valen story, there's no Babylon 4, meaning that there's not a need for multiple stations, you can just have the movie series called Babylon (which is kinda cool).
(As a side note, would also remove the raiders as they were filler for the first season)
As another person pointed out, the problem with that is that you lack a justification for the Babylon Stations. Also, it was pointed out that the aftermath of the War essentially fueled the rise of Facism and Clark. Earth was nearly wiped out, which is justification for what happened. One compromise is that the Earth/Minbari War was just a border skirmish that was nasty, but leave out all the drama of the Line and Valen.
Essentially, the movie starts with Morden boarding the station. And pretty much gets right onto Londo making a deal with the devil, and by the end of the movie, the Narn/Centauri War is in full swing, which leads on to the other movies in the series.
Thoughts on this as a sort of reboot?
Random ChaosActually Carefully-selected Order in disguise
edited August 2014
I like that idea. My biggest concern about a big budget movie is the movie needs to be about the plot and the story, not about the actors, which means the need top quality but lesser known actors that can pull off challenging roles without the audience mind-casting them into previous roles where they have been stereotyped. For instance, I cannot stop seeing Agent Smith every time I see Elrond
Comments
I'll still be crossing my fingers!
If JMS is doing so well that money is no longer a problem, I'd rather he put his energy into a new science fiction story rather than regurgitating B5.
For some reason I think of the artist who did the shadow Babylon 6!
What if the shadows won for like a galactic dark age?
I do not own the writes to this idea.
I believe its the work of JackN
Last I remember he found a pup not far from his house.
That had to be more then 5 years ago.
Hi Jack! If you're reading
What I'm finding difficult is even if you remove all the filler from B5, it's hard to imagine getting even the season 1 story elements into one movie.
As much as I liked Crusade, I think I'd rather see that rebooted and change the timeframe to be 15 years after B5, not 5. That way original cast members from B5 can still be in it as themselves and we'll get the whole story that has been left unresolved for far too long.
I would wager more audience members are character development focused over world building and backstory focused anyways.
EDIT: Article on ars technica
Basically it should be either a trilogy or 5 movie project. All the fluff would be taken out, leaving just the important stuff...basically, the Narn/Centauri War, Shadow War, Earth Civil War, and maybe if there's time at the end, the Telepath War. One commenter even suggested completly eliminating the Earth/Minbari War from the movies, and have the 5 minute prolouge be able the Icarus leaving for Z'ha'dum. Which would eliminate the Line and the Valen story (and just having the station start with Sheridan). Even though no one else said it, that actually led me to think....why Babylon 5? Without the Valen story, there's no Babylon 4, meaning that there's not a need for multiple stations, you can just have the movie series called Babylon (which is kinda cool).
(As a side note, would also remove the raiders as they were filler for the first season)
As another person pointed out, the problem with that is that you lack a justification for the Babylon Stations. Also, it was pointed out that the aftermath of the War essentially fueled the rise of Facism and Clark. Earth was nearly wiped out, which is justification for what happened. One compromise is that the Earth/Minbari War was just a border skirmish that was nasty, but leave out all the drama of the Line and Valen.
Essentially, the movie starts with Morden boarding the station. And pretty much gets right onto Londo making a deal with the devil, and by the end of the movie, the Narn/Centauri War is in full swing, which leads on to the other movies in the series.
Thoughts on this as a sort of reboot?