http://www.tvwise.co.uk/2014/08/babylon-5-movie-eyes-2016-production-start/
I like B5 - but I don’t think a reboot is the way to go - how much can you tell in a movie? Even if you toss out some of the throwaway episodes the story took > 50 hours to tell
Brian
A B5 reboot just seems odd to me, for reasons I can’t quite articulate.
I’m going to have to differ - the instant I saw this thread title, even before clicking on it, I said to myself “I hope it’s a reboot”. It’s been 16 years since B5 was on the air, and even at its peak it was never very well known in the mainstream, so there’s pretty much no way you could sell a major motion picture based on the small and ever-dwindling cadre of fans the original series had.
Granted, there’s only so much story you can tell in a 2-3 hour movie, but if (and it’s a big if at this point, since what we basically have here is JMS saying he wants to make a movie and hoping that WB will pay him to do it) it gets made, I could definitely see the story of the station’s first days in operation providing some taut political drama and an action setpiece or two.
My biggest wonder is whether JMS intends on casting new actors to play the same roles from the original series, or to go an alternate-universe direction and create new characters filling the same basic archetypes - Ivanova, Londo, and Kosh are must-keeps, IMO, but there’s no reason the role of Sinclair/Sheridan couldn’t be filled by a different Earthforce commander with a different special connection to the Minbari, or Talia/Lyta with a different telepath with a different relationship to PsiCorps and/or the Vorlon.
I’d love to see a B5 reboot - but without JMS. Heresy, maybe, but this is the man that somehow believed that “Legend of the Rangers” and that direct-to-DVD whatever it was were fit for prime time. The article doesn’t really make it sound like anyone is lining up to fund this movie, in any case.
Great Maker!
The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.
A reboot of B5? Sure, great, I’d watch it… Except, a movie? How can you possibly do justice to the concept in a mere couple of hours? What made the show great in the first place was the huge story arcs.
Agreed about the story arcs. But if you retain the same basic concepts, races and factions, reset the universe and then let the whole thing play out as a Tolkien-esque space fantasy–warring factions, ancient space gods, techno mage wizards, etc.–it could really work, IMHO.
That said, the space station concept was useful in order to tell the story at a distance for the sake of lower-budget TV, but it’d be best to ditch Babylon 5 itself and instead show the conflicts first-hand.
Zathras would do a movie, but no one would watch it. No one ever watches poor Zathras.
I don’t see how anything but a reboot would work; half the original principal players are dead.
Yeah, but if they cast Zathras instead, it’ll be a hit.
I’m excited, but trepidatious. The relationship between G’Kar and Londo was a HUGE part of what made B5 what it was. It was lightening in a bottle, and how can you hope to be lucky enough to capture it twice?
Alas, so many have passed beyond the rim…
Sounds like a JMS fantasy that ain’t going to happen. Turn the whole thing over to JJ Abrams or somebody I’ll give it a whirl.
Good lord, no. Turn it over to a director with some talent.
Most definitely. If Abrams is even in the same country as the script I’m giving it a pass.
Well, I just pulled a famous name out of a hat. I’m not sure B5 could attract the best talent.
So again, you are talking about Abrams.
Didn’t he make the Star Trek reboot? C’mon, you’re never going to satisfy geeks, but he’s made lots of stuff that was more than watchable. You’ve seen some of those B5 spin-offs and straight-to-bittorrent sequels, right? He couldn’t do anything but improve most of that, if he did it in his sleep.
I am reminded of the several restarts of the Delorean Motor Company, each ballyhooed by John Z and some spiffy presentation materials.
I am absolutely a first-rank lover of B5, warts and all, and my dearest hope is to see worthy extensions of the universe. However, I am with those here who don’t think any such thing will happen with Joe in control of it. He was phenomenally lucky with B5, at least seasons 1-4, and as far as I can tell, nearly everything else he’s been associated with is either crap or hated by a large percentage of the fans.
I’ve come to the conclusion, especially after listening to him on things like the B5 commentary tracks, that he’s not nearly as smart as he or his fanbase thinks he is. He’s a Hollywood hack, one of a hundred thousand who can survive in that cesspool but doesn’t have the DNA to really evolve into a controlling role.
He had one - one - stroke of lightning that was tarnished by shitty producers and funding but still manages to shine. It’s much in line with Blade Runner in that respect. However, he either exhausted his creative well with that effort or B5 was miraculously nothing like his more general vision, which is peculiar and rather dull at best.
I admire him lavishly for bringing us B5. But I wish he’d move on and let someone else visualize a reboot or serious extension.