Hi Leute!

Soeben habe ich auf jmsnews.com (im Forenbereich - das eigentliche Archiv braucht wohl noch eine Weile) eine neue Nachricht von JMS gelesen, die mich unheimlich freut - da kommt finanziell gesehen ganz schön was auf mich zu. Nachfolgend die Highlights, für alle die's genau wissen wollen habe ich dann unten JMS Original-Kommentar zitiert.

Folgendes: Bisher waren die B5-Scripts nur auf Conventions erhältlich, und dort zu einem recht hohen Preis, weswegen viele B5-Fans (entweder da sie diese Conventions nicht besuchen konnten oder weil das nötige Kleingeld fehlte) nicht die Möglichkeit hatten, zuzuschlagen. Bisher war eigentlich nur das Script zu "The Coming of Shadows" ("Schatten am Horizont") verfügbar, in JMS' Buch "Complete Book of Scriptwriting", und das für Dezember angekündigte B5-Zitatebuch "But in purple,..." wird das Script zu "Sleeping in Light" ("Der Weg ins Licht") beinhalten, aber davon abgesehen blieben wirklich nur Conventions und/oder Ebay als Bezugsquelle.

Das wird sich nun ändern. Im Oktober wird die Seite http://www.babylon5scripts.com online gehen, wo alle 2 Wochen eine (neue) Ausgabe von B5-Scripts beziehbar ist. Jede dieser Ausgaben wird dabei ca. 7 Scripts der Serie beinhalten, und 39 $ kosten. Insgesamt werden 14 Ausgaben erscheinen, dh. man bekommt alle B5-Scripts um ca. 550 $. Noch günstiger ist man dran, wenn man die jeweils aktuelle Ausgabe in der 1. Woche nach erscheinen bezieht - dann soll es 10 Dollar Rabatt geben, man zahlt also pro Ausgabe nur mehr 29 $ und insgesamt dann etwas mehr als 400 $.

Wie schon erwähnt, wird jede dieser Ausgaben ca. 7 Scripts beinhalten - doch das ist nicht alles. Zusätzlich dazu wird es neue Einführungen und Kommentare zu den Episoden von JMS geben - extra für diese Veröffentlichung verfasst - in der er einige (bisher unbekannte) Anekdoten aus der Produktion der Serie erzählen, auf den Schreibprozess eingehen, weitere Informationen zum Handlungsbogen (und wie sich dieser verändert hat) liefern, Schwarz/weiß Photos vom Set zeigen, die von JMS selbst gemacht wurden (und ebenfalls bisher nicht veröffentlicht wurden) und und und. Diese Kommentare werden insgesamt ca. 30 Seiten pro Ausgabe ausmachen - also eine Fülle an neuen, interessanten Informationen zur Produktion von Babylon 5, direkt von JMS!

Ein ganz besonderes Schmankerl wirds gleich in der 1. Ausgabe geben: Das bisher unveröffentlichte Original-Script von "The Gathering" ("Die Zusammenkunft", also der Pilotfilm), mit dem man damals bei diversen Studios angeklopft hat und von Warner gekauft wurde. Kein Fan (außer er verfügt über Insider-Kontakte) konnte diese Fassung des Pilotfilms, die teilweise eklatante Unterschiede zur fertigen Version aufweist (so hat Kosh eine Lebensgefährtin, anstatt eines Tarnnetzes ist der Attentäter ein Formwandler, Sinclair wird nicht angeklagt etc.), bisher zu Gesicht bekommen.

Und für jene Fans, die alle 14 Ausgaben beziehen, gibt es dann noch einen zusätzlichen, ganz besonderen Bonus als Danke schön: Eine 15 Ausgabe, und das völlig gratis. Diese wird NICHT einzeln zu beziehen sein sondern wirklich nur an jene gehen, welche sich auch die anderen Ausgaben komplett zulegen. Darin enthalten: Das Original-Script zu "Soul Hunter" ("Der Seelenjäger"), welches JMS damals aufgrund der Ähnlichkeit mit einer Star Trek-Episode umschreiben musste, das Produktions-Script für "The Gathering", eine frühe Version des Drehbuchs zu "And the Sky, full of stars" ("Gefangen im Cybernetz") und detaillierte Informationen zum 5-jährigen Handlungsrahmen - so wie er von JMS ursprünglich geplant war. Richtig - endlich werden wir B5-Fans erfahren, wie die Serie ausgesehen hätte, wenn Sinclair als Commander auf der Station geblieben wäre.

Auch wenn ich momentan knapp bei Kasse bin, ich weiß, dass zumindest ICH mir dieses Angebot nicht entgehen lassen werde.

Hier die Original-Meldung von JMS (aus dem Forum; wobei die Nachricht auf der Hauptseite sicher auch bald erscheinen wird):
For years, I've been at conventions and had fans come up with photocopied scripts they'd purchased from script stores or dealers for $20 a pop, many times in poor condition...with loose or missing pages, hard to read, and thought, there has to be a better way for fans to get these scripts without paying that much for copies that are often inferior.

So now, at some point in October, we're going to fix this.

All 91 Babylon 5 scripts that I wrote are going to be made available through an independent publishing firm in trade paperback form. We're still working out the final details in terms of how to put the scripts together, but right now the plan is to do 7 scripts per book, each volume released every two weeks or so, at a cost of about $29 per volume if ordered in the first week or so it comes online) or $39 per for those who buy later. That's four bucks per script if purchased early, about five per script if published later...which saves fans a
HUGE amount of money.

There will be 14 volumes in all, each again containing 7 scripts AND newly written introductions and commentaries about each episode that are thus far averaging about 30 pages per book, telling some of the behind-the-scenes stories that have never been told before (and some that have), talking about the writing process, how the arc was created and maintained, anectodes about cast and crew, what went into the stories...enough so that at the end, at 30 pages over 14 volumes you get about 420 pages of new material on the making of B5...a book unto itself.

On top of THAT...some of the books will contain rare b&w photos from my own personal archives, taken by me on set, which have never before been seen by anyone else.

The very first book will have the Gathering script, plus 5 additional scripts (to make up the 7 hours of material) BUT...and this is the cool part...the script of the Gathering included in this volume will be one that has NEVER BEEN OFFICIALLY RELEASED BEFORE.

See, when we went to sell Babylon 5, I wrote a pilot screenplay to take around. When we made the deal, the notes process began...and the script went through considerable changes. But this is the ORIGINAL draft, the one only seen by the studio and the other producers on the show.

What's different? How about Garibaldi trying to get hold of his dying father back on Mars...how about a shape-shifter instead of a Minbari assassin with a changeling net...Londo as a part-time pick-pocket...Dr. Chakri Mendak instead of Dr. Kyle...new scenes between Lyta and Laurel, Delenn and others that were later cut...a LOT more character scenes with Sinclair and Garibaldi...a discovery about Delenn's lifestone and what that means to the Minbari...where Sinclair is NOT put on trial, but finds a whole different and more interesting way to solve the mystery of Kosh's assailant...and the introduction of Kosh's life-mate, Velana, who plays a very important role in the script. (Didn't know Vorlons had life-mates, did you?)

This script is HUGELY different from the one we filmed -- funnier in places, with more character moments -- and it has been kept under lock and key all this time. Now, for the first time, it will be officially released in the first volume of this set.

And here's the coolest part...as a gift for the fans...a FIFTEENTH volume will be given FREE to those who pick up the other 14. And what is IN this 15th volume, you ask?

Remember the lost script for "Soul Hunter," of which only 5 copies existed before I pulled them back, destroyed all but one copy for my files, and wrote a brand new script to replace it...all because it felt too much like a Star Trek script? Well, THAT one is in the free fifteenth volume. It also features a comic sub-plot concerning B5 being audited.

As if THAT wasn't cool enough...nearly a YEAR before we began writing episode scripts, before we HAD the series commitment, WB wanted to see what a typical episode might look like. So I wrote a draft of "And the Sky, Full of Stars," one of our most important episodes, that is massively different from what we would later produce...including fantasy sequences with Knight Two as the proprieter of a dark carnival of sorts.

It will also contain the Babylon 5 writers bible...the production draft of "The Gathering" as a companion to the original draft offered in volume one...and something very special.

For over ten years, fans have asked "What would Babylon 5 have been like had Sinclair stayed?" Well, that question will be answered in this volume.

After we finished the movie, but before we got the series going, WB asked to see a breakdown on this five-year arc thingie. So I wrote a six or seven page, single spaced outline of the ENTIRE FIVE YEARS with Sinclair still in place. The document makes for fascinating reading when compared with the series as it developed. NOT ONLY THAT, but the same document has a brief outline for A POTENTIAL BABYLON 5 SEQUEL SERIES, which would have been entitled BABYLON PRIME.

Again, that's what will go out FREE OF CHARGE to those who pick up the full set. While obviously all these volumes can be purchased a la carte for those who don't want all the script, this fifteenth volume will ONLY be sent out free, it cannot be purchased directly.

So for roughly a quarter of what fans would spend to buy the scripts individually from dealers, which are often poorly photocopied or otherwise in bad shape, you get uniform trade (large-ish) very handsome paperback editions, WITH the introductions, photos, and the bonus book.

(Doing the math more specifically...to purchase all the scripts one at a time would cost nearly $2,000. Here, if copies are purchased as the script books first come online, the full set would cost around $420; if purchased after the discount period, we're talking about $560...which is, again, for 15 volumes counting the free one, amounting to nearly FIVE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED PAGES OF MATERIAL.)

I'll post another message when they officially go online at babylon5scripts.com but in the interim...know that they are coming.