Spoilers









Production Weekly reported that a feature film set in J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5 universe will begin production in April in the United Kingdom. Straczynski wrote the film, The Memory of Shadows, which will be directed by Steven Beck (Ghost Ship), the publication reported.

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, sets out to find out who is behind the conspiracy, Production Weekly reported. 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.

Hoorah! :thumbsup:

About time :)

Nice to see that Galen will be involved, potentially a resolution of sorts for Crusade afterall then.

It'll be interesting to see how many of the regulars feature.

A concerning rumour appears to have sprung up regarding the casting;

I have tried not to read most of posts so not to get spoiled. What I did read was it begins production in April in the UK and that is fantastic news! :D

A further update from FilmJerk;

To be honest, if even half of the above is true, I'm seriously considering not bothering :(

Go JMS, we're with you all the way. It is inconceivable that the main characters could be recast for the movie. We're talking about the actors who made us care about the characters, they (almost) brought the roles to life. If WB do try to force a re-casting, then I (can't believe I'm writing this) hope that JMS just pulls the plug.

Looks like it's heading for another TNT situation. Joe didn't stand for it then, let's hope he doesn't now.

Given the choice, I'd rather see no movie, than one with completely different characters in it.

S**t that f$%^&*g sucks!!! :angry: :angry:

Who wants to see a Babylon 5 movie without the original cast! I sure as hell don't! :angry:

If they want Hollywood stars then perhaps specific roles could be created to play alongside the main cast. Oh well it doesn't look like we are going to get the Babylon 5 movie on the big screen now. JMS is never going to recast and more power to him for standing up to Hollywood! It's such a shame I was really looking forward to seeing this movie. :(

The thing that I don't understand is that B5 is a sci-fi movie, what kind of Hollywood superstars does WBs think they can attract to the movie anyway ??

Rutger Hauer as the villain of the piece?

Some slapper tart as the "eye candy"

Pamela Anderson Lee as Delenn.

Ellen Degeneres as Ivanova.

Some guy from NYPD blue to play Garibaldi.

I have a horrible feeling they may be w**king along those lines :blink: :huh: :cry: :ermm: :unsure:

Traci Scoggins is apparently already signed, so no need ;)

Surely it's gotta be Bruce Willis playing Garibaldi :lol: :lol: :lol:

What? You mean Garibaldi wasn't played by Bruce Originally? :lol:

I don't expect Warner Brothers intend to use "A list" stars and nothing against the cast of Babylon 5 but almost any movie actor is going to have more box office pulling power than the cast of Babylon 5 to the general public. To be fair to the cast they're not well known outside of Babylon 5 and science-fiction circles.

I personally watch way too many films and TV programmes and I have barely seen the cast in anything other than Babylon 5. To the general public they are unknown.

I think I would boycott a Babylon 5 movie without the original cast members but nevertheless I wonder who they would have to play the parts? I reckon they would want to change Garibaldi , Sheridan and Delenn for sure but who would get to play them instead? I think they would be happy to keep Londo Mollari and G'kar...what do you think?

bruce willis as garibaldi? ...its uncany but true :lol:
???? as Delenn
???? as Sheridan

Damn beaten to it!

:lol:

Why do you reckon that is?

From the little I've seen, they seem at the very least, capable actors with a dedicated following. This should have seen them in other stuff, no?

But I can't recall seeing any of the cast in anything else :ermm:

I have no idea why that is?

I've never seen Mira Furlan(sp?) who plays Delenn in anything else, Bruce boxlietner(sp?) I have only seen him in a few dodgy TV movies, I've seen Claudia Christiansen(sp?) in a few movies nothing substantial , Jerry Doyle I haven't seen anything else, G'kar( and I forget his real name) has done lots of supporting stuff in films including the fugitive.... I honestly don't know why they haven't done more because like you said they are capable actors.

So unless you're are a Babylon 5 fan you're unlikely to know who they are.

Didn't Jerry Doyle play Bruce's stuntman on Moonlighting ??

The rumours are that casting calls have gone out for characters sounding very similar to Galen, Delenn and Sheridan.

I think we can pretty much take it as given that they won't be getting A-listers, but beyond that it's hard to see the point. How many people go to a movie these days just to see a B-list celeb ?? All's they're going to accomplish with these recastings is to disenfranchise a fair proportion of the people you're counting on seeing the movie. It just makes very little sense.

The worrying thing is that Joe as far as I'm aware still hasn't denied the rumours. :unsure:

Bruce Boxleitner is most commonly known for his roles in the movie Tron and the series The Scarecrow and Mrs King. Since B5 he's moved towards more literary endeavors, putting out novels.

AFAIK, B5 was Mira Furlan's first foray into American TV, previously having established herself in her native Yugoslavia.

Claudia Christian has a list of credits longer than my arm, but none of them particularly high profile.

Rick Biggs came from a soap opera background having long stints on TV institutions like Guiding Light and Days of our Lives.

Peter Jurasik has an impressive list of TV w**k including MASH, Hill Street Blues, MacGyver, LA Law, Sliders, NYPD Blue etc, but again little silver screen exposure.

Andreas Katsulas has appeared in many genre shows including TNG and Millennium. He appeared in The Fugitive on the bigscreen but little else.

Jerry Doyle, B5 was his first major gig. Since the show ended he's moved into politics, running for office in the LA 24th Congressional District.

The thing with B5 is that there was no clear star. Instead it relied on the tried and trusted group dynamic that served TNG so well. At the end of the day, did Paramount feel the need to recast TNG parts ?? None of them were particularly big names at the box office ??

Firefly's another one. I wonder if Joss for a second would have considered replacing his 'unknown' cast ?? :lol:

I agree with you but TNG had a couple of clear advantages which Babylon 5 does not. First off while it was TNG's first cinema outing it was Star Trek's 7th box-office movie. Paramount also eased them into the box office by including the original series cast (well Kirk, sulu and Scottie). Another advantage was that the next generation had not long finished before making the movie.

Anyway as I said before I would boycott any Babylon 5 movie that replaces any original actors from Babylon 5 with the exception of the recently deceased Richard Biggs.

It's a fair point re the TNG cast's transition to the big screen. It's just a shame that WBs aren't prepared to show the same faith in B5 that Universal are showing in Firefly.

I'm pretty much the same, any recasting (beyond the necessary) and I for one most certainly won't be checking it out, no matter how much I'd love to see a B5 movie.

I honestly can't see that JMS would replace Sheridan or Delenn under any circumstances. Galen however is a different matter. While I would boycott the movie over the original Babylon 5 personnel I wouldn't be too bothered by the removal of the actor who played Galen (was it Peter Woodward?) in Crusade.I would prefer the original actor but I don't feel so strongly about it


I don't know how many people go to a movie these days just to see a B-list celebrity? I am fairly sure that the non initiated to the Babylon 5 World who like the look of the movie would prefer to see younger and more attractive actors/actresses in the leading roles. Unlike us though , they don't have the emotional attachment to the characters and the actors who played them.

I agree that by recasting they would lose a fair proportion of the people they're expecting to see the movie and also agree that it makes very little sense. I know it sounds insane to us fans but that's Hollywood for you! They obviously think that they would make more money by replacing Sheridan and Delenn rather than keeping them.

What are you guys going to do about this? are you going to write to Warner Brothers? I'm going to write a few e-mails once I find an address to send them. I think our feelings should be heard. :angry:

I'm pretty sure that if and when the rumours are confirmed then there'll be no shortage of e-mail/contact details available ;)

Joe's response;

I think that was the initial response from Joe when rumours that all was not well on Crusade started :(

Re Peter Woodward's role as Galen being recast, apparently he's shooting something else at the same time.

yeah but any idea of a date of release for the film?

somehow 2005 seem to be the wrong year for anything in the sky ... i mean star wars, firefly, war of the worlds .... a little too much aliens films to compete with.

At the earliest you're looking at the backend of 2005, but my money would actually be on a 2006 release date now.

I think 2006 would probably be better for the movie to come out. It would stand a better chance of being taken on it's own merits instead of being mired in the comparisons with other movies.

Of course in 2006 it would be up against "Superman", but no other major Sci-Fi movies have been announced yet for next year, and if they want it to come out they had better move now (ish)

what about the fantastic four? 2005 or 2006?

2005.

BUGGER!

Click!

I think Phillips phrase more than adequately sums this up too.

Not good. Not good at all.

Taken from JMSNews, and dated 25/02

Andrew (HM) :upside:

Oh well.

I wouldn't have wanted to have a "big name" film anyway.

I'm with Paul on this one. I'd rather have no movie than a WBs movie.

It's disappointing, but it's time will come.

It's sad news but It wouldn't have worked without the original cast in the lead roles.

The problem as I see it is that any new Babylon 5 project really needs to be made sooner rather than later because they aren't getting any younger. I hope if it comes down to it that JMS can manage to get a few more TV movies made if the big screen version seems unattainable. At least that way there won't be the same kind of demands to have big star names involved.