What I've heard from various sources is that JMS and WB couldn't agree on several (and by several, I mean MANY) aspects of the film, including casting, and the project has basically entered "development hell."
And good riddance.
The problem here, folks, was not truly, fully with WB. It was with the people WB allowed to try to pretend to be producers for a third-party company. Alain Gottesman is no producer. He's tried and failed to get one other movie made. He is nothing less than a puling idiot who doesn't know what the hell he's doing. It was Gottesman and Rosen (who is also not a producer, and has never produced a film before) who wanted *stars* to replace the cast, not WB.
Where WB dropped the ball, was when they didn't feel that B5 was a big enough draw (since it was based on a TV series) to make themselves, so they handed it off to a third party, with the agreement to distribute the film. That third party was Gottesman and Rosen, who, as stated above, are vapor-brained mouth-breathers.
We've got the series DVDs, we've got the canon novels, with more now in the pipeline. I'd rather a Babylon 5 movie done right, rather than one done next Tuesday.
Joe's own word:
And good riddance.
The problem here, folks, was not truly, fully with WB. It was with the people WB allowed to try to pretend to be producers for a third-party company. Alain Gottesman is no producer. He's tried and failed to get one other movie made. He is nothing less than a puling idiot who doesn't know what the hell he's doing. It was Gottesman and Rosen (who is also not a producer, and has never produced a film before) who wanted *stars* to replace the cast, not WB.
Where WB dropped the ball, was when they didn't feel that B5 was a big enough draw (since it was based on a TV series) to make themselves, so they handed it off to a third party, with the agreement to distribute the film. That third party was Gottesman and Rosen, who, as stated above, are vapor-brained mouth-breathers.
We've got the series DVDs, we've got the canon novels, with more now in the pipeline. I'd rather a Babylon 5 movie done right, rather than one done next Tuesday.
Joe's own word:
Quote:
| From: jmsatb5@aol.com Subject: from jms re: tmos To: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated Date: 2/25/05 5:52 PM I'm putting this here because the new message threader I sent eaerlier is taking a while to move through the system. So this info will repeat soonish on another subject. jms ---------- The rule of thumb in Hollywood is that for every thousand scripts that get written, only a few dozen get into development, and out of those, only one will ever get made...if that. A little over a year ago, I was approached by a company that wanted to make a Babylon 5 movie. They optioned the rights, and commissioned a script. (It's worth mentioning that I, not WB, own the rights to a B5 movie. When we were negotiating the original B5 deal -- by whose terms I will never see a dime in profit -- the one thing they did let me have were the movie rights, figuring they'd never be worth anything in the long run.) Anyway...on December 27th of 2003, the script for "The Memory of Shadows" was turned in, and the process began of trying to make the deal work with all the various forces involved. It is, to say the least, a very difficult process on any movie where the studio does not directly take the financial reins. In terms of B5, Warner's position was esssentially, "We only do big-budget movies with big names, so you're on your own." If there were big-name movie actors in the film, they'd get behind it; without that, things become very problematic, especially as far as the financing was concerned. You much have to put together a consortium of international interests and business plans rivaled in complexity only by the Allied invasion of Normandy Beach. Nonetheless, every attempt was made by the people involved to get this deal in place. This was not being done by Doug or myself, but rather by the company/individuals who approached us and optioned the rights. At times, it seemed we were inches away from a deal...stages were reserved at Elstree, actors were contacted, a director was in place, the script went through many revisions, a few key staff were hired, again not by me...it was really a year-long roller coaster ride. During that time, the people involved, with every good intention, tried very hard to pull the necessary pieces together on the deal. The option expired in late December 2004, but I renewed it without cost, to give those involved more time to try and make things work. In the end, however, the deal could not be put together, and it did not look as if that was going to change at any point in the foreseeable future. So the option has reverted, and to all intents and purposes, the project has dead ended. Nor do I think this particular incarnation will arise again at any point in the future, though prognostication has always been a tricky art, especially if you have to do it without the benefit of hindsight. This was not the first time someone's taken a run at a B5 feature film, and it will not be the last. Eventually it will happen, because such things are simply inevitable. If they can do a Brady Bunch movie, you can be sure that sooner or later, somebody's going to do a B5 movie. The only thing I can say without equivocation is that when that day comes, as the rights-holder, I will make darned sure that it's done right, because I'd rather have no B5 movie than one that doesn't live up to what fans and I myself would want to see. To that end...I can wait. Anyway, just thought you should know the story. jms (jmsatb5@aol.com) (all message content (c) 2005 by synthetic worlds, ltd., permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine and don't send me story ideas) |
