It was one of the most anticipated projects for this pilot season, but earlier this year, the Babylon 5 reboot was pushed to the 2022-2023 pilot season. And then nothing more was heard about it. Now, a report from Deadline quotes CW CEO and Chairman Mark Pedowitz who confirms that the reboot is still in active development.Pedowitz explained during the network’s pre-upfront press call, “It is very much in active development, I personally spoke with Straczynski back when we picked up the pilot. I’m a huge fan of Babylon 5, on a personal basis, I’ve seen every episode of the series. I’ve known Joe for a long, long time. I’d love to bring back that story in some shape or form, I think it’s perfect for the CW.”“Active development” is not the same as active production, however. While Straczynski has written what Pedowitz called a “damn good script” according to the writer, production on that script won’t proceed until the CW green lights it.Straczynski explained the situation in a Patreon post in February. “Calling the [reboot] pilot ‘a damned fine script,’ he said he was taking the highly unusual step of rolling the project and the pilot script into next year, keeping B5 in active development while the dust settles on the [prospective] sale of the CW,” he wrote. “Here’s the bottom line: Yesterday, Babylon 5 was in active development at the CW and Warner Bros. for fall 2022. Today, Babylon 5 is in active development at the CW and Warner Bros. for fall 2023. That is the only difference.”
J. Michael Straczynski is Writing and Executive Producing the Reboot
Who better than the original creator of Babylon 5 to write the script for the reboot pilot? J. Michael Straczynski has a long and successful career as a writer in Hollywood having written and created shows and movies since the 80s.
Many consider Babylon 5 to be his best work, however, and the show, along with its spinoff Crusade has a cult following. With special effects that were, at the time, state of the art, Babylon 5 was a visual treat. And Straczynski’s masterful character work and storytelling made the shoe a success.
The new version of Babylon 5 has been described as a “from-the-ground-up reboot” of the original series. The new version would follow John Sheridan, an Earthforce officer with a mysterious background, who is assigned to Babylon 5, a five-mile-long space station in neutral space.
The writer actively communicates with the fans and answers their questions about the process of getting a show produced. In a recent tweet, Straczynski explained why his perception of where the Babylon 5 reboot was left him comfortable with the project still at CW.
Although he does appreciate the fans love for his work, in his FAQ about himself, Straczynski has asked for fans to not send him unsolicited ideas about the new show, whether it be casting ideas or plot or character ideas. Or for any of his projects. He considers it his number one rule for hanging out with the fans. There have been cases in the past where such unsolicited ideas have caused problems for productions of certain episodes of the original Babylon 5 series.