Babylon 5 had five TV movies by MikeBromberg

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Babylon 5 had five TV movies

POSTED BY: MIKEBROMBERG
UPDATED: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 12:11
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Tuesday, January 10, 2006 10:27 AM

Hi everyone. I was MikeThatGuy for a while, but I think someone else too that name.

So, anyway, let's recap regarding where we are right now. Correct me if I'm wrong.

- Movie cost $39.5 million to make, plus $10
million in promotion. Total gross was $36.5 million (a decent percentage of which goes to the individual theatres) and there was a $3 sale to a TV network.. So - loss of what? $20 million.

- DVD sales will be good, I'm sure, but once again a decent percentage of sales goes to stores and distributors. Millions and millions will have to be sold to get us in the black. And if it's not way in the black why would anyone do a sequel?

- So, considering the above, odds of another movie are unlikely. But Joss has always said he wants to keep the Firefly verse on the movie screens.

- So, I have to ask: WIll clinging to the big screen mean this is all over? Babylon 5 did FIVE made for TV movies. Is that a bad thing? Will Joss totally shy away from that? Won't that allow much more character development over the long time, rather than having to create a "blockbuster" movie.

- And with 7 seasons of Buffy and 5 of Angel, plus Firefly (of course), I'd like to think TV is our friend, not something to avoid at all costs. Which is kind of what I've heard from Joss.

Anyhow - there's my thoughts. If I've mis-statd Joss' intentions, please let me know. I'd love to be wrong in this.

m i k e

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Tuesday, January 10, 2006 10:53 AM

STORYMARK

Well, one big difference is that the Babylon 5 movies were almost all made durring the production of the series - not counting the Gathering pilot movie, or the Legend of the Rangers pilot.

They used existing sets, the same crew, and greatly limited the cast (some major characters only appeared briefly, or not at all in some of the movies). This, I'm sure, kept the cost down quite a bit.

"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."

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Tuesday, January 10, 2006 12:30 PM

MIKEBROMBERG

I just read that Joss interview someone posted - looks like he is ok returing to TV, he's just waiting "for someone to call." um. ok. But at least he seems open to returning to the small screen. Yay!

I remember one interview a little while back where he said he kept all the Firefly sets himself after the series ended, not being willing to give up on it all.

And I can't imagine them all not being willing to come back for future sequels. They seem to have a great chemistry. And maybe they can have flashbacks with Wash in them... :^)

m i k e

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Wednesday, January 11, 2006 7:24 AM

STORYMARK

Quote:
Originally posted by MikeBromberg:

I remember one interview a little while back where he said he kept all the Firefly sets himself after the series ended, not being willing to give up on it all.

Wow, Joss must have one BIG garage.

Chances are, either you're remembering incorrectly, or Joss was joking. Sets are almost always destroyed, even when they do intend to do sequels and such, as it's cheaper to build new than to store old sets.

We know the Firefly sets were destroyed, because (amongst other reasons) word got out that they had to go back and watch the episodes in order to re-create the sets for Serenity, which wouldn't have been nessesary had Joss kept them.

"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."

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Wednesday, January 11, 2006 7:56 AM

FREELANCEPILOT

Here is the basic issue. I feel that the firefly fans really dropped the ball when it came to the movie. Yes Universal mismanaged the advertising but then again, so did we.
I dragged a few friends to see serenity, but it wasn't nearly enough. I bought the dvd set and the movie and plan to buy the special edition if/when it comes out.
I think the best hope for the show would be to try to get Sci Fi to take it over. we just have to stay dilligent. tell your friends and neighbors to buy serenity. Make it your birthday gifts (or christmas even thought that time has past) for everyone. ("hey grandpa here's a dvd!" "A what?")
it is all about money at this point. Could we just start Joss a paypal account?

Wash: Yeah, but psychic? That sounds like science fiction.
Zoë: You live on a spaceship, dear.
Wash: So?

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Wednesday, January 11, 2006 8:52 AM

CWNEK

I'd love to see a return to the small screen. I feel as though a mini-series would be a great way to test the waters. A six hour mini-series taking place prior to SERENITY but after OBJECTS IN SPACE could be made to play much like the conclusion to season one minus the stand-alone episodes, and, going forward, could be broken down into one hour bits and broadcast along with the FIREFLY episodes which have proven successful thus far on SciFi as reruns. Strong DVD sales would be a given. This would put FIREFLY into excellent position to be relaunched as a series. The chronology suggested here would also allow for more stories to be told featuring our original cast of nine.

This brings up the whoe question/non-question regarding TV rights. I'm not sure how it started, but there seems to be a lot of bad information on these boards regarding this supposed obstacle. When FIREFLY was put on hiatus by Fox Broadcasting, ME was offered free ability to locate a new home for the show. Had they found one, Fox Production Co. would be finishing season five as we speak. I've not read anything that would suggest that anything has changed.

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Wednesday, January 11, 2006 9:30 AM

JAYRO

It's only a small screen if you've got a small TV.

I gave up on cinema as an experience some time ago. Right about the time I got my 42" plasma-screen with DTS and 5.1 Surround. The picture quality is ten times sharper than any cinema projector, and the sound makes babies cry in neighbouring towns. Home entertainment technology has never been better. Which makes me think, "Why should I pay £silly to go out and watch a movie once, when I can wait a few months and own a superior version on DVD?"

So now I only venture out to the 'event' movies, ie. Star Wars, LOTR, Kong. And our BDM, of course (which I went to see THREE times, because every addiction needs its fix...)

27 Feb 2006 - Serenity DVD Launch UK

-------------------------------

"Looks like they got hungry again."

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Wednesday, January 11, 2006 10:03 AM

RIAN

Quote:
Originally posted by FreelancePilot:
Here is the basic issue. I feel that the firefly fans really dropped the ball when it came to the movie. Yes Universal mismanaged the advertising but then again, so did we.
I dragged a few friends to see serenity, but it wasn't nearly enough.

I don't think so. How many of the Browncoats have not only bought one Serenity DVD but more? Or dragged friends to the movie? There's only so much we can do. As a student I don't make much money that I can spend for fan articles and such. If there aren't enough fans around...they can't make the movie a sucess on their own.

Yet I've got no idea why Serenity hasn't been successfull. We're all clear on the point that it's excellent which is what the critics say as well. Maybe the advertisment buget really was just too small...I'm from Germany and over here they only showed tiny Serenity trailers on the tv. (And bad ones! After I've seen them I thougt: the next dumbest action movie, eh? Won't be watching it).

Someone has said that Hollywood can't produce dissapointing movies anymore, because even if the US audience doesn't like the movie, somewhere in the rest of the world people will like it and it will make money. But Serenity had no fanbase outside the US...and the Universal ads didn't change that.

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Wednesday, January 11, 2006 10:14 AM

JAYRO

Quote:
Originally posted by Rian:
But Serenity had no fanbase outside the US...and the Universal ads didn't change that.

I'm sure the hundreds of UK Browncoats might have something to say about that particular assertion.

-------------------------------

I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me.

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Wednesday, January 11, 2006 12:11 PM

CWNEK

Quote:
Originally posted by Jayro:
It's only a small screen if you've got a small TV.

I gave up on cinema as an experience some time ago. Right about the time I got my 42" plasma-screen with DTS and 5.1 Surround. The picture quality is ten times sharper than any cinema projector, and the sound makes babies cry in neighbouring towns. Home entertainment technology has never been better. Which makes me think, "Why should I pay £silly to go out and watch a movie once, when I can wait a few months and own a superior version on DVD?"

So now I only venture out to the 'event' movies, ie. Star Wars, LOTR, Kong. And our BDM, of course (which I went to see THREE times, because every addiction needs its fix...)

27 Feb 2006 - Serenity DVD Launch UK

-------------------------------

"Looks like they got hungry again."

Very true, especially with a set-up like that which you have described, but there's just something special about seeing a movie on film. It's a different look and feel that, unless there exists home theater equipment with a "film mode", can't be duplicated at home, even if sound and picture quality are better.

I see far fewer movies on film now that I'm living in an area where chain multiplexes dominate. When I was fortunate enough to be living in a community with a small local theater that oozed character and realized that the key to their success lay in making a trip to the movies into a fun night out (Reel Pizza Cinerama, Bar Harbor, ME, USA), I went to see films 1-2 times/week regardless of what was playing.

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