Babylon 5: The Lost Tales (1 Viewer)

[Joseph DeMartino]

Scott beat me to it!

Joe

 

[nolesrule]

Happy birthday to me!

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

I'll believe it when I see it but it sure would be great to see some of the original cast.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

They started shooting the thing yesterday. What does it take to convince people this project is for real? JMS going door to door and telling each of us in person? There is reasonable cautious skepticism when a project is first announced, but at a certain point in the process that just shades into ludicrous paranoia.

Cameras are rolling as I write this. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have already been invested in studio space, costumes, makeup sets and salaries. CGI designs and tests are on going. The only way they can make this money back is releasing the disc.

Regards,

Joe

 

[JediFonger]

i hope the CG is completely renovated.

 

[Sean Bryan]

From the main page news of HTF:

http://www.homemediaretailing.com/ne...rticle_ID=9924

 

[nolesrule]

Considering the old CG models don't exist anymore, I don't think there is any question.

That said, I'm not sure how much of the old designs will actually be on screen anyway considering the basic premise of the anthology series.

 

[Ric Easton]

That would sure be a nice surprise to open the door and see JMS standing there!

 

[Andy_Bu]

I know this will likely not happen but some sort of "conclusion" to Crusade would make for the ultimate "Lost Tale" for me

Andy

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Yes Please and I hope he brings Bruce Boxleitner and Melissa Gilbert with him.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Well, I'd be happy if he just sent over a note, as long as it is hand-delivered by Claudia Christian, Mira Furlan, Pat Tallman and Andrea Thompson. Ok, he can send Melissa along as well. He can keep Burce.

Joe

 

[David_Blackwell]

thanks for all the info, Joe.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

BTW, the "$44 million" in sales mentioned in the press release is a bit of an "oopsie" according to JMS. The figure refers only to sales for last year (not sure if that is worldwide or U.S. domestic.) The cumulative world wide gross to date is closer to $500 million. Given that the fifth season was released over two years ago and the sets are now selling at or close to retail these days, $44 million for last year isn't half bad.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Sam Favate]

I figured that was the case, since $44M seemed too low for Warner to be excited enough to go back to production on the series (in some fashion). However, $44M for last year is outstanding when you consider that the sets were released between 2002-2004. Glad that the DVDs have been so successful. No more deserves his success more than JMS.

 

[JediFonger]

B5 in HD media!

hopefully JMS puts Lost Tales out on HD =).

PS did anyone read "Book of Lost Souls" by JMS? v. interesting themes.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Unlikely for the foreseeable future. This is WB's first venture into direct-to-DVD and they obviously want to reach the broadest audience - that means SD DVD. This is a direct-to-disc sequel to a cult TV show. You try releasing something like that into a niche market like that for hi-def DVD and you'll sell twelve copies. (Hell, even I wouldn't buy one because I don't have a hi-def DVD player.) If a hi-def only release is out of the question, a dual- (or tri-) inventory release highly unlikely. Why multiply your production, packaging and distribution costs when launching a new and untested product? See how it does in SD first, you can always come back and do an HD version later.

I think JMS is shooting in HD for two reasons:

1) Why not? Everything is going to be HD someday anyway, who not future proof the show. That's exactly the thinking that led him to shoot B5 in Super35 and compose the show for widescreen when laserdisc was the state-of-the art for home video.

2) They're still going to want to find a broadcast network or cable channel to carry the The Lost Tales and new product is expected to be in HD.

If the discs do well enough and the installed base of HDTVs and hi-def DVD players continues to expand, I wouldn't be surprised to see WB start offering later discs in both SD and HD formats and probably reissue the earliest discs in HD versions.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Whoops! Duplicate post. Never mind. Move along. Nothing to see here.

 

[Holadem]

Tallman? Furlan??!! Not very picky are ya?

--
H

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I like redheads.

Especially this one:



She looked pretty good in the pictures linked to here, too.

And Mira is irresistably cute, for a Minbari, when she crinkles her eyes in a certain way.





BTW, here's the latest from JMS:

 

[nolesrule]

Great news about the jackets.