Not thrilled with it being animated but I guess I will watch.


'Babylon 5' will return as an animated movie from its original creator

"We’ve known there was a reboot coming of 1990s sci-fi cult hit Babylon 5 for a while now, but we didn’t have any concrete details until today. Original series creator J. Michael Straczynski just announced that it’s an animated feature length film developed by Warner Bros. Animation.

Straczynski is quiet regarding plot details but did say that the movie is “classic B5” with a “raucous, heartfelt” story, going on to suggest that the cartoon feature is “the most B5-ish” project since the original series bowed out in 1998. He also said that the movie is completely finished and just awaiting release. In other words, it’ll likely be a matter of months, not years, before mega-fans get their eyeballs on this one."

I'm not sure what they could accomplish in a ~2 hour movie. B5 had too many characters and things going on. Unless this is picking up some time after the events of the show or some silly prequel.

Ditto

I may sound harsh for saying this but I have zero interest in this. Very disappointing from my perspective.

Let's face it, the studio made an animated movie because they didn't want to take the financial risks in making a live action movie or new live action series.

That's what "Lost Tales" was but the problem there was that WB was extremely stingy with JMS and gave him a whopping 2 million dollar budget to make it.

By comparison the two SG-1 direct to DVD movies each had a budget of 10 million.

My fear as well, although JMS writes in his own statement that they are two separate things, the live action show still on hold, and he quotes the writers’ strike:

“ There’s a brand new, original BABYLON 5 ANIMATED MOVIE coming out soon from Warner Bros. Animation & WB Home Entertainment! It’s classic B5: raucous, heartfelt, nonstop, a ton of fun through time and space & a love letter to the fans. To be clear, since there’s been some ambiguity, the movie is already done and finished and in the can. So it's 100% real, happening, and coming out very soon.
I'm ridiculously excited about the #B5AnimatedMovie because it feels the most B5-ish of anything we've done since the original show. Warners was terrific in giving me the freedom to write the story I wanted, and the animation is phenomenal. It's fun, deep, emotional, classic B5.
Full release details, including cast, title, when, where and how it will be available, and other info will come next week from Warners. Best of all, if this does well there will be more animated movies, maybe on a regular basis. (And this has no bearing on the other the reimagined B5 live-action series, which is currently on hold pending the resolution of the Writers Strike.)”

Even without the writer's strike I am very doubtful that the live action series will happen. The CW network has been dragging its feet and I've heard zero news about the project being shopped anywhere else.

Then again, I don't think a "reimagined" series is the right creative course of action anyway so if it doesn't get made then maybe it will be for the best.

If I go out of character for a moment and look at this from an optimistic and hopeful perspective, I might speculate that with all the Star Trek shows currently being developed, broadcast and rumoured, WB might be asking themselves which IP SCi-Fi show they own and could come up with to compete with Paramount.

Reimagining B5, as long as it is in JMS’ hands does intrigue me, as I’m just curious as to what that would entail. I can’t imagine new actors taking over the roles of our legacy characters.

An animated movie might be a way in for the younger audiences who have no prior knowledge of B5.

Christopher Franke however is not on board this time round. According to JMS Franke is now retired from composing.

Perhaps in Europe where taste in movies and tv shows tends to be a bit more artistic but I am doubtful about the younger audience in the US being interested.