December 28: Just a Few Notes

        Well, that's all for today. We'll post any new info on TMOS as soon as we get it. Until then, enjoy the rest of the holiday season and keep those letters coming!

December 18: B5 Cast Needs Your Help

        Well, it??s been over a week since the Babylon 5 re-casting rumor first surfaced and there have been a number of developments that have occurred that may shed some light on what may be happening over at Warner Brothers.

        A number of independent sources (for example, Hollywood north report) have confirmed that a casting call has recently gone out. This casting call describes four main characters that are to appear in the Babylon 5 movie The Memory of Shadows. The characters are Galen the Techno-Mage, Diane Baker, Colonel Joss Morgan, and Tyrell. It is important to note that none of these four characters were from the original primary Babylon 5 cast (although the technomage Galen is from the primary cast of Crusade). It would seem that The Memory of Shadows is designed to expand the Babylon 5 universe by bringing in new characters and expanding on those who were never fully explored (like Galen) instead of developing plots around familiar characters whose stories have already been told (like the Star Trek films). This is a fascinating direction. It is a direction that Heather and I can definitely support. However, this may raise logistical problems that may be at the center of the re-casting controversy.

        WARNING! Everything in the next two paragraphs is speculation.

        The casting call seems to suggest that members of the original Babylon 5 cast will be playing a secondary role in the movie. It is also reasonable speculation that Warner Brothers may want to cast well known actors in the four primary roles mentioned above. This means that Warner Brothers may want to pay the original cast on a scale consistent with actors staring in minor or secondary roles. Of course, members of the Babylon 5 cast will see things differently. The cast defined and popularized these roles. They may wish to be paid on a scale consistent with that status and those accomplishments (a reasonable expectation) regardless of their secondary status in the movie. Thus, what we may be witnessing here are the hardball money negotiations ?? Warner Brothers trying to pinch pennies by forcing the B5 actors to take unreasonably low salaries or risk being excluded from the movie altogether.

        Of course, Heather and I are extremely disappointed to see that the role of Galen the Techno-mage (brilliantly played by Peter Woodward in the Babylon 5 made-for-TV-movie A Call to Arms and in Crusade) may be re-cast. There could be a number of reasons for this. It may be that Warner Brothers has given Peter Woodward the inside track for the role but still want to see what others could do with it (They may not feel that 13 episodes of Crusade is enough to firmly establish him as the only person who could play the character in fans minds). It could be a negotiating tactic. It could also be that Warner Brothers wants someone with more name recognition (this would be a bad move on the studios?? part). Finally, it may just be that Peter Woodward??s schedule is at odds with the shooting schedule. No matter what, Heather and I strongly maintain that Peter Woodward, and no other should play the role of Galen

        END Speculation.

        Yesterday JMS posted the following to the moderated Babylon 5 newsgroup:

I would like to be able to comment on this, but for the time being I am not able to do so.

jms

        We believe that this is further confirmation that a casting controversy is underway and that negotiations are still in progress. (If there were no difficulties with the casting, JMS should be free to say so - only a crisis in progress would tie his hands.) Whether the details of this crisis are as we speculated above or somewhat different, it is clear that the cast of B5 needs the help of the fans once more ?? and now is the time to act if we want our voices to be heard. We encourage all Babylon 5 fans to send letters of support for the Babylon 5 and Crusade cast members to Warner Bros (the address is provided in the earlier update below). No one should play Delenn but Mira Furlon and no one should play Capt. Sheridan but Bruce Boxleitner. So get those letters out.

December 11: Save theB5 Cast

        Well, folks the lesson here is always be cautious. Rumor is spreading very quickly that the WB is getting cold feet about the B5 project. It seems that they are concerned that there is not enough star power in the movie. Because of this they are seeking to RECAST the original Babylon 5 crew. JMS is apparently fighting this and that is the reason that the movie has been held up. Folks, Heather and I WILL NOT SUPPORT a B5 movie that does not have the actors that have defined these roles.

        In short, this is insane. As members of the B5 fan community we must make a noise (here we go again). We must let Warner Bros know our disapproval of such a move.

        I suggest that, as a first counter to this idiocy, members of the B5 fan community alert the online science fiction community. This news must be spread to places like Ain??t it Cool News, Cinescape.com and Scifiwire.com. It is also important to make our voices heard right at the source as soon as possible. So we ask you all to get out your pens and paper once more and send off a quick note to Warner Brothers letting them know that you will not go to see the B5 movie if the original characters are recast. Here is the address:

Warner Brothers
4000 Warner Boulevard
Burbank, CA 91522

and make sure to put "Attn: Babylon 5: The Memory of Shadows" on the front of the envelope.

        Heather and I are not in a position to carry this effort out with the same energy that drove the Crusade Campaign. However, we will be on top of this situation with information and suggestions about what we need to do. There is also a website under construction that will provide information and direction about this issue. A member of the B5 online community has started this site. The site will be called "keepB5alive.com". Currently it is accessible at http://207.234.193.168/

        Unlike the Crusade effort, this promises to be a short fight. Negotiations are currently underway. Acting quickly and decisively will win the day. So, right now, spread the news.

        Meanwhile a great way of getting your anger out over this situation is to go to the Warner Bros message board for Babylon 5 at http://boards3.warnerbros.com/wbol/forum.jspa?forumID=2574423&start=0 and add your voice to those that are angry at this move by Warner Bros. Registration is easy.

        We are angry and frustrated by this new development. We wish that we could say that we were surprised by how idiotically WB is behaving, but experience has taught us to expect the worst from these folks. Again, we will be on top of this story, so please check back for updates.

December 9: Good News at Last

        Well, despite our best efforts, our little eight month old daughter has grabbed so much of our attention, focus and most importantly our energy that we have not been able to update this site. For those who nonetheless keep checking back with us, thank you for your patience and please bear with us a little longer as things sort themselves out. We are still committed to quality science fiction wherever and whenever it can be found.

        For those who have followed this site and other B5 sites, you probably already know that a B5 movie has been in development for some time now. I must admit that the lack of information regarding this movie has, at times, left both Heather and me quite skeptical about whether this movie would ever be produced (you may call this the after effect of the Crusade campaign). We have restrained ourselves from getting excited over B5: The Memory of Shadows. We restrained ourselves from speculation over the movie's plot and the characters that may be in it. And we certainly avoided thinking about the possibility that one movie could lead to another and then another..... You might imagine that the loss of Crusade after so many near victories (SFC near pick-up, Rangers series) had left us a bit angry, bitter and certainly gun-shy over anything B5. Back in 2002 we thought Crusade/B5 was dead.........we were wrong:

        Babylon 5 Movie Starts Filming in April
        Source: Production Weekly
        December 8, 2004

Steven Beck will direct a big screen adaptation of the popular sci-fi TV series Babylon 5. The movie, titled The Memory of Shadows, is intended for theatrical release and was written by series creator J. Michael Straczynski. Production Weekly reports that the project starts filming this April in the UK.

In Shadows, the technology of the ancient and extinct Shadow race is being unleashed upon the galaxy by an unknown force, and Earthforce intelligence officer Diane Baker, whose brother was recently killed in a mysterious explosion, it out to find out who is behind the intergalactic conspiracy.

Joining her is Galen, a techno-mage who has been charged with keeping the technology out of the hands of those who would abuse it.

        And then today there was this from Cinescape.com:

Yesterday's news story about the rumored BABYLON 5 movie loosened a tongue with one of our readers, and today we've got more information to share about THE MEMORY OF SHADOWS. According to a previous report forwarded via one of the United Kingdom based B5 Yahoogroups, the BABYLON 5 feature is heavy into pre-production at EMI Elstree Studios. Additionally, this current phase of production is under the aegis of production manager Peter Heslop (whose credits include GLADIATOR, STAR WARS EPISODES I and II and WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT).

We know we've got British pals working in the film industry over there, and now's the time to lend us a hand. If you know more about this secret production, who's working on it or anything else, email our team and we'll report on it.

        This is, of course, fantastic news!!! Not only is it a B5 movie, but with the threat of ancient alien technology unleashed amongst the galaxy (a theme that Crusade would have explored, had it lived) and the inclusion of the Techno-Mage Galen, it is fair to consider this a Crusade movie as well.

        We will, of course, be following the production of this movie very closely. As soon as we know something we will post it here. However we will not post any plot details that may surface. The surprises are better left for the cinema. I guess we'll need to get a babysitter for Kyra. Heather and I will be at the movies in about...perhaps..18 months.

        We still can't help but feel a little cautious. Heather will not be satisfied until the filming begins. However, after such a struggle to save Crusade this is fantastic news. For all those who contributed to the Variety ad, the Save Crusade buttons, Save Crusade Flyers and for all the letters to SFC, thank you and congratulations.

September 23: Crusade coming to DVD

        Well folks, sorry for the infrequent updates, however that is all about to change. Heather and I have sort of worked into a routine with our new baby daughter now so things are about to get more busy.

        The first thing that I would like to start with is news that I'm sure most of you know by now. Crusade is coming out on DVD on December 7. Amazon.com is already taking preorders. Click here to get the specifics on the release and, of course, to make your preorder.

        As some of you may know, Heather and I are a bit on the optimistic side of things i.e. whenever we saw a reasonable chance at saving Crusade we tried to act on it. This DVD release finds us in a quandary. If the Crusade DVD set sells very well then does that open the door for a Crusade resurrection in some form? Certainly this is not without precedent. For example, high DVD sales have resurrected Firefly (a Firefly movie Serenity is now in production), Family Guy, and even Babylon 5 (It looks like things are moving forward on the B5 Movie, The Memory of Shadows). Could this happen with Crusade or are the sales figures for this DVD release meaningless with respect to any new Crusade production? As of now, there is no way to tell. However, I can imagine the following scenario: Great sales of the Crusade DVD combined with a successful Babylon 5 movie that (here is the critical step) has plot elements of Crusade and Crusade characters in it, could bring about a Crusade revival. (There is a good indication that The Memory of Shadows will involve both techno-mages and Crusade in one way or another.) Stranger things have happened. So the quandary is do we believe that there is still a chance for Crusade and thus push one more time or say forget it, it's dead.

        Here is our answer:

        We and many others have worked very hard to bring back Crusade. We have come so far that one more step is negligible to us. Because of this several of our friends, who otherwise would NOT think to purchase the Crusade DVDs, will receive them as Christmas presents from us. If you find yourselves of like mind and in a similar position then perhaps one or two of your friends, who know little of Crusade will find it an interesting Christmas gift.

        Perhaps high DVD sales and a number 1 spot on Amazon.com's top DVDs list will bring about the Crusade revival that failed 5 years ago. Perhaps we will learn more of Galen, of the plague, and what happens to Earth, the Excalibur, and her crew. Perhaps not..... But perhaps.

September 2: Jeremiah Tomorrow Night, TMoS Still on Track

        In a recent post to the B5 moderated group JMS gave updates on a number of his projects. Here are some highlights from the post:

On the TV front, I have final confirmation that the last batch of Jeremiah episodes will be airing on the regular Showtime channels starting September 3rd. The episodes are:

Sept 3: Crossing Jordan and Running On Empty
Sept 10:: The Question and The Past Is Prologue
Sept 17: The Face In The Mirror and State Of The Union
Sept 24: Interregnum (Parts 1 and 2)

All of them are really strong episodes, and I'm glad to see them finally being aired.

Pending contractual negotiations and formal pickup by the networks involved, I've been offered two different series, so we'll see which goes first. They could both be very cool to work on, but one of them could be insanely successful. I should know more about this situation in late October. (Neither is Trek-related, just to nip any potential rumors in the bud.)

Starting sometime in October, in an unrelated project, our friends in Britain can expect to see me hanging about on-and-off in the general vicinity of London. Just, y'know, workin', doin' stuff. . . .

Oh, and in the next week or so I should be turning in the next-to-final draft of the TMoS screenplay.

        As with all JMS posts, there are some cryptic bits in there, but we'll leave those alone for now. (Feel free to speculate among yourselves - speculation can be a lot of fun :) ) We are pleased to see that the final episodes of Jeremiah will be airing. We thought the first part of the second season was excellent so we expect that these final episodes will be well worth watching as well. Showtime is certainly not going out of their way to show them in an attention getting fashion - burning through them two a night - but at least they will be out there for those of us who want to to finally see them. It will make us sad while we're watching them to know that there will be no more Jeremiah after this handful of episodes, but we'll do our best to enjoy them anyway. We have ordered Showtime (starting today) and we'll cancel it as soon as the episodes are over - maybe Showtime will get the message.

        We were extremely happy to see the footnote about TMoS in JMS's post. Every little tidbit like that renews our faith that the project is still on track. There was a lot more news in JMS's post covering comics, books and so on. So if you'd like to read the whole post, go to the jmsnews.com archive site.

        One final note. Don't forget to pick up a copy of the B5 Movies DVD set in stores now. There's still nothing the suits listen to more then the sound of us spending our hard earned cash.

June 18: More Info from JMS

        In another post to the B5 moderated group JMS gave some new info about the B5 movie and Crusade DVD's and announced there will be a new series of B5 novels. He also made some quite cryptic statements (as usual) which we will try to decipher as best we can. First, here is the complete post:

Okay, let's try this again. Best to break the ice by just sort of doing a round-up of what's going on and what's coming and suchlike.

I'll try to address some of the questions that have come up about what's coming up.

On the movies DVDs, and what's inside: the main thing is that we've got commentaries on literally every one of them. Mike Vejar and I did a commentary on In the Beginning, I did one with John Iacovelli on The Gathering, and another with Janet Greek and Tracy Scoggins on River of Souls. I can't remember now if I solo'd on A Call to Arms or if Mike was there as well (it all blurs after a while...I've done something like fifteen of these things by now).

There's a separate cast commentary on Thirdspace with, I think, Pat, Jeff, Jesus Trevino, and one or two others.

On the Crusade DVDs, there's one commentary I did on the original pilot (once WB and I came to a meeting of minds, to wit, "I'm gonna say what happened to the show, what *really* happened...you got a problem with that?"). There's a second commentary track with Fiona, Janet, Peter Woodward and Carrie Dobro.

(We interrupt this message with a coded message for our friends in England and Australia: keep your eyes on the horizon.)

One oddity...constant readers will remember a while back when I was asked what TMoS was, and I provided a list of things it *wasn't*. The aforementioned oddity is...one of those things has come up as an adjunct to TMoS.

Also, expect word fairly soon-ish about a new series of B5 novels.

Elsewhere on the prose front...Straczynski Unplugged is out now, and Tribulations will be coming out in December.

I've turned in all three final Rising Stars scripts, and the first issue of the last arc comes out in October, I hear.

Next week a new arc and a new artist starts on Amazing Spider-Man, and it's a stinking cool issue. You can read a preview of the whole issue for free at:

http://www.milehighcomics.com/firstlook/marvel/spidey509/

On other projects...I'm making sudden progress with the medieval play I've been twiddling with for the last few years, and may have it done in the next couple of months. Once that happens, my plan is to do a limited, small production for two weeks or so here in LA, just to see how the text works with an audience, then take it away for another few months, twiddle with it some more, then go for a larger venue. I may do something similar in London, since I may be spending a bit amount of time there fairly soon.

And for those who've asked, I won't be in attendence at San Diego Comic Con this year due to a variety of commitments.

Oh...and I've been offered an EP position on a network series, and while I don't usually do that on shows I don't create or develop, when I heard what this project was, I had to get on board. We still have to negotiate a deal, and work out how that will interface with the stuff that'll be going on later in the year, but fortunately the start date for the series should work out, at least at this point.

jms

        We were glad to find a lot of good news in this JMS post. We are pleased to hear that there will be some interesting commentaries in the DVD movie set. We are especially happy that the issues with the Crusade commentary have been cleared up and JMS will get to tell the full story of what happened to the series (although it's sure to make us angry and sad all over again when we hear it in his own words). We are also happy to hear that there will be more B5 novels. Whenever the B5 books are cannon (and thus are produced under JMS's watchful eyes) the results seem to be great. We can only speculate that the sudden revival of interest in publishing B5 novels is a result of B5:TMoS. Perhaps this is just the beginning of the good fallout from that project

        Now on to the cryptic elements of the post. First, JMS's "coded message" to England and Australia. We can only speculate about what this means, but our best guess is that it's an indication that B5:TMoS will be shot in those locations (or perhaps shot in one location and special effects produced in the other). This guess is further supported by JMS's statement later in the post that he "may be spending a bit amount of time" in London "fairly soon".

        Now, on to the "oddity" that JMS mentions. He says that this project is going to be adjunct to B5:TMoS and that it will be one of the things he said that TMoS was not. There was a long list of things JMS said TMoS wouldn't be, including a tv series, novel, short story, a comic, an animated series, a radio drama, and a stage play. Again we can only speculate, but guessing can be fun. Trying to eliminate things from this list we think the project won't be, we first rule out a novel, since JMS made a separate announcement about new B5 books. Next, we rule out a comic since there has long been a B5 graphic novel that was supposed to be in the works but never came to anything. We're also going to rule out a short story (seems too small to be announced in this way) and a stage play (we just can't see this happening). So we're left with tv series, animated series, or radio drama. We of course would like to think that it's a tv series, but that's really a pie in the sky hope. We just can't see where such a series would find a home in today's tv market. A radio drama also seems unlikely, but it might be possible - perhaps something over the internet like the Sci Fi channel website used to do with it's seeing ear theater series. Now, an animated series actually seems quite possible - it's cheaper than a live action series and there is precedent for it (the old Trek animated series). It's also possible that it is a direct to DVD animated series since these coming out in conjuction with movies seems to be all the rage now (for example "The Animatrix" and "Van Helsing - The London Assignment"). Well, that's our speculation on this topic. Whatever the project is, we hope it gets made. We're always happy to see more B5.

        Finally, we come to JMS's announcement that he might be taking an EP position on a series. In later posts, JMS said that the EP position was not for either Dr. Who or Enterprise (although JMS was actually approached last year about taking an EP position on Enterprise but he declined.) He said further:

Amusingly enough, on the Trek front, Bryce Zabel (the creator of Dark Skies) and I got together and wrote a treatment earlier this year that specified how to save ST and develop a series that would restore the series in a big way. I actually think it could be a hell of a show. Whether that ever goes anywhere with Paramount, who knows?

        We doubt that Paramount will go for a deal with JMS (he's far too independent for the kind of control the suits there like to have over Trek - frequently to its detriment) but it would be very interesting if it happened. In the same post JMS says that the possible EP position "has nothing to do with any current series, it's a new show". That makes us very curious. We haven't heard of any upcoming science fiction series that sound like JMS's cup of tea (actually there pretty much isn't any tv science fiction at all on the horizon), so we can only hope that this is a sign that there's something good coming up that we just haven't heard about yet.

        Well, that's all for our analysis of this latest JMS post. As we said, it's fun to speculate and it's great to have so many potential upcoming projects to speculate about. It's been a long wait, but perhaps B5 will be coming back soon in a big way. We are cautiously optimistic, and for now we're just enjoying the chance to hope and to speculate.

Babylon 5/Crusade/JMS News Archive February 2004 - June 2004

Babylon 5/Crusade/JMS News Archive July 2003 - January 2004

Babylon 5/Crusade/JMS News Archive September 2002 - June 2003