B5's MEMORY OF SHADOWS emerges from the darkness

By: Patrick Sauriol
Date: Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Source: Production Weekly

We're getting a number of scoops about the story that the Production Weekly website is running today about that rumored BABYLON 5 movie we've all been hearing about. Rumors of a B5 theatrical movie, titled THE MEMORY OF SHADOWS, have been floating about on the web for a year, with series creator J. Michael Straczynski stoking the coals with a cryptic mention of a secret project in the works. It looks like Production Weekly has finally broken the silence on what THE MEMORY OF SHADOWS is about.

According to the website the movie will begin filming come next April in the United Kingdom under the direction of Steven Beck. Straczynski wrote the movie's screenplay and story, and this is how Production Weekly describes it:

"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, is out to find out who is behind the intergalactic conspiracy. Joining her in her investigation is Galen, a techno-mage who has been charged with keeping the technology out of the hands of those who would abuse it."

Fans of the B5 spinoff series CRUSADE (which just arrived on DVD this week) will remember the character of Galen from that show. In the series the character was played by Peter Woodward, but it's unknown if the part will be recast for the feature film.

Here's the kicker to this story: in October Straczynski made a Usenet posting which said, "...Oh, and for the first time in five years, there is an office somewhere in England with the words Babylon 5 on the door..." That does match up with Production Weekly's report of filming scheduled to take place in England next year.


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