The buck stops here for BABYLON 5 fans

By: Patrick Sauriol
Date: Monday, January 10, 2005
Source: Lee Whiteside

Some fans of the BABYLON 5 television series have been concerned over recent speculation that the B5 theatrical movie that's in development (titled THE MEMORY OF SHADOWS and still presently not officially announced by Warner Bros.) will not be requiring the services of the actors that starred in the series. In December reports accredited to leaks from casting agencies stated that the role of at least one B5 character was to be recast. With still no word that any actor from the TV show had been contacted about reprising their character in a theatrical film, worried fans have begun wondering if any of the show's stars would appear in the B5 movie -- or if their characters should appear, they would be played by new actors. Even series creator J. Michael Straczynski chimed in with a brief comment concerning the rumors, but the lack of clarification that JMS could provide probably unsettled the fan community even further.

Hoping to sway any doubts that Warner Bros. executives may be having about making a B5 film without the original actors, one website has created a sheet of "Babylon 5 Bucks" intended to show WB brass the right direction to take. The make believe dollar bills are intended to be printed out by the fans of the series and sent to the Warner Bros. Burbank studio address as well as Elstree Studios, the location where the B5 film is to shoot. Addresses for both locations are provided by Keep B5 Alive. Each of the B5 buck bills promises that the sender will purchase one ticket to see a theatrical BABYLON 5 movie provided that "it includes the original cast members."


"This may seem like a silly gimmick. So were the Budweiser frogs. Silly gimmicks are memorable, they get attention. They WORK," states Joseph DeMartino, one of the campaign's organizers. "So can this if Warner Bros. gets socked with thousands and thousands of letters containing these novelty items. And that's the key - make them realize that this isn't an issue that concerns only a few fanatical fans of particular actors but something the vast majority of the fan community cares deeply about and that we will have to consider whether or not the B5 movie WB eventually puts in theaters is really B5 or some pale imitation that we, as loyal fans, can and will rightly ignore."

Further information about the Babylon 5 Bucks mail campaign, as well as other information on the casting rumors, can be found at the Keep B5 Alive website.


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