Babylon 5 creator Straczynski is still at work on the screenplay for Forbidden Planet. He elaborated a bit on his earlier comment that his remake is "not exactly a prequel." He explained that, while we will witness the fate of the Bellerophon, the ship whose crew vanished on Altair IV 20 years before the events of the original movie, it will be as a counterpoint to the story of the crew of the C-57D and their encounter with Dr. Morbius and Altaira. While this new concept calls for more action than we saw in the original, Straczynski says the script's basis on The Tempest is first and foremost in his mind.

But the big news that, if Straczynski's movie takes off, we may be seeing more Forbidden Planet. Says Straczynski:

"Warners is very excited about it, thinks it's a big franchise for them and a huge budget, so they're very much oriented toward getting it done."

Babylon 5 creator reboots a sci-fi classic ... and a sequel? [SCI FI Wire]

His overarching theme: the importance of writing what you deeply care about. He explained that when he hires a writer, he is hiring that person's unique point of view, and that can only come from writing about your passions. He is interested in those that have a distinct voice and have something to say, and though there is no how-to book to develop those skills, the best advice is simply to trust your instincts.

As far as the writing process itself goes, the most important thing you can do is actually finish what you've started. As long as your work remains unfinished, it can't be judged, which might provide a rather cozy bubble but is not the best way to improve as a writer; he noted that spending five years working on a novel won't teach you anything beyond how to do that one thing, while spending that time publishing as many little things as you can will provide you with countless more opportunities to receive feedback and improve.

Once you have finished your work, the editing process will likely involve more subtraction and addition. Though some things may genuinely require further clarification, the editing process should generally see a shift from saying everything you can say to everything you want to say to everything you need to say. Editing an entire work also allows you the opportunity to take a larger perspective on a story's problems, as a faltering third act is likely the result of problems in the second.

Straczynski stressed that there really isn't any "correct" way to write, and it's up to the individual writer to find a system that works. This might mean improvising as you go or it might mean rigidly plotting everything out beforehand; either way, the most important thing is to write, and to write as many different things as possible. For instance, writing articles teaches you structure, which can then be applied to write better short stories, which in turn help you master dialogue, which helps lead to better scripts.

Failure is a key part of the writing process, because there's really no way to figure out where the boundaries and limits are, without occasionally overstepping the mark. He pointed out that those still in college have some of the best options for failure, as there are so many resources from the student paper to theater where you can try new things with none of the repercussions of spectacular failure that one might fear in the real world. Still, those in creative writing classes will likely have to be subversive in order to really progress as a writer, as Straczynski noted academia's reluctance to admit the value of works that could actually be, well, sold and published.

For those looking to take the first serious steps into the world of professional writing, he noted that literary agents, while not essential, can be hugely helpful. Since they in part act as gatekeepers for editors and publishers, their feedback can help hone your work into something publishers will really want to buy, and their recommendations of your work can make a huge difference when it comes time to choose which stories to publish.

Of course, with any professional success in writing comes the danger of ceaseless notes and senseless criticism from those that want your work to adhere to a strict formula. Straczynski noted that, while it can be frustrating to deal with those who simply want to place all stories inside the same box, there are really only two options: swim with the tide or against it. The best thing you can do is make all the changes you find unimportant while being prepared to stand up for those parts that really are too important to you to change. This give-and-take, while far from perfect, at least allows a more realistic chance of maintaining some measure of creative control.

Above all else, remaining true to your passions is what will lead to your best work and give you the best chance at success. Although in all of this there is the rather obvious factor of, well, talent, the fact remains that you have to be truly invested in what you're writing for it to have any power at all, and as long as that you keep that one notion firmly in mind the rest can be left to fall into place.

[YouTube] (Via SF Signal)

While it may not be a prequel or remake, it sounds like Straczynski's flick will tell us more about the Krell aliens who made the ultra-powerful psychic tech of the original film. He told MTV News:

[When coming] up with the Krell backstory and who they are, I sat down with some of the nation’s best minds in astrophysics and planetary geology and A.I. and asked them — based on what we know now — what will a million years from now look like? The goal is to put things in there you’ve never seen before.

Also good to know he's got some science consultants on board. I would love to see a movie about the Krell civilization and what happened to them.

Thankfully, the remake will also remain true to the spirit of the original by trying to look as cutting-edge as possible. No retro stylings, says Straczynski:

At the time it was made it was cutting edge. They weren’t trying to be ‘retro’ — they thought they were right on the cutting edge. People that went to see that film saw things they had never seen before. What we have to do now is have this one be as innovative now as the original was then.

Forbidden Planet is one of those great, generic adventure stories that could get remade a million times and still be fun. You've got robots, an alien world, seriously scary alien tech, a vanished civilization, plus a mad scientist and his nubile daughter. What could go wrong?

J. Michael Straczynski Promises Something No One Has Thought Of [via MTV News]

The rumor had said JMS' new script was a "continuation" of the 1956 original, in which Altair 6 somehow doesn't blow up after all. Writes Babylon 5 creator JMS:

That report is totally incorrect. It's not going to be retro, and it's not going to be a continuation. When Altair 4 blows up, it blows up. I have, however, found a way to honro (sic) the original movie without in any way besmirching it in order to do this iteration. Once folks find out what we're actually going to do, I think they'll be most pleased. Forbidden Planet remains one of my favorite films of all time, and I wouldn't even think about doing this project if I didn't think there was a way to do it that would not in any way diminish the original...which is why this is the the first development in years to actually get to the script stage. Everybody involved is very excited by the approach.

Sounds as though it's more a remake than a continuation, although all this talk of a new approach also makes me wonder if JMS is playing into the new fad for remakes that are also quasi-sequels, sort of the way the recent Hulk movie half-acknowledged, half-supplanted the original. Or the way the Tin Man miniseries hinted that its Dorothy had had a great-grandmother who also visited Oz. The big question, though, is will we have a retro Robby the Robot? It's probably not up to JMS, since it's a design decision, and it probably depends how well Earth Stood Still, with its retro-looking Gort, does. Of course, if Earth Stood Still does really badly, this may be the last we hear of a new Forbidden Planet anyway. [JMS News]

For the first major convention of the year, Wondercon was surprisingly light on any real news, with the biggest player, DC Comics first suggesting that they were going to tell us something big the next day, and then telling us that they'd rather wait until April after all. The lack of any major surprises to take away from the con (Both of the stories that actually did break, J. Michael Straczynski working for DC Comics and Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan working on new issues of Demo for Vertigo, seemed to be common knowledge on the con floor before their official announcements) seemed to affect the regular con-goers with an unusual feeling of malaise hitting even the 501st Legion as they performed con security. This wasn't helped by the no-shows from creators - not only was the Image Comics panel cancelled, but both Boom! Studios' Mark Waid and Aspen Studio's Michael Turner failed to make it to the show.

That isn't to say that the entire show was a disaster, mind you; the pros who did make it there were entertaining and available - Particular shout-outs should be given to Oni Press's James Lucas Jones (Expect me to tell you all about Wonton Soup very soon) as well as DC's Jann Jones and Dan DiDio, whose late-Sunday panel "For The Love of Comics" turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable conversation not about upcoming DC Comics but what is awesome about comics in general (Goofiness and obsessive collecting being two of the answers), entirely free of the kind of hucksterism that you might expect from a DC panel.Bill Willingham proved to be a fine gentleman able to keep people's attention throughout the various panels he dominated (and I'm not just saying that because of his apology to me about this), and even if some DC panels may have been half-empty, the two showings of the animated version of Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier were packed with enthusiastic fans (With good reason; it's a better movie than I expected).

That's not even talking about Saturday's CBLDF party that we co-sponsored, populated by the creme de la creme of comics folk, from retailers to creators (Hi, Cecil!) to fans, with we journalist types mingling and posing for photos that I feel like I should be apologizing for; I didn't mean for my head to be that shiny. Overall, it may not have been the most exciting weekend in terms of comic conventions - that'll be San Diego Comic-Con in July - but it was definitely a fine, exhausting, one nonetheless.

Straczynski says:

In the current storyline, there's a lot that I don't agree with, and I made this very clear to everybody within shouting distance at Marvel, especially Joe [Quesada, Marvel Comics Editor In Chief]. I'll be honest: there was a point where I made the decision, and told Joe, that I was going to take my name off the last two issues of the OMD arc. Eventually Joe talked me out of that decision because at the end of the day, I don't want to sabotage Joe or Marvel, and I have a lot of respect for both of those. As an executive producer as well as a writer, I've sometimes had to insist that my writers make changes that they did not want to make, often loudly so. They were sure I was wrong. Mostly I was right. Sometimes I was wrong. But whoever sits in the editor's chair, or the executive producer's chair, wears the pointy hat of authority, and as Dave Sim once noted, you can't argue with a pointy hat.

"i don't care if they want to smash the marriage, but to have your flagship character make a deal with the devil? not cool at all Marvel. I would have preferred a straight reboot to this. Or even just having Peter wake up and it be like this with no explanation to the fans. Not cool Marvel. Not cool at all"

"This is so bad, it destroys whatever artistic credibility the book once had. There's no future, nothing matters. They did something like the unmasking, did it poorly, then threw it away like it never happened."

"Well the stomach pains continue and now I think I will go into some sort of coma after this story: good god...I knew this was going to be a nightmare but this is ******* ridiculous. As if breaking the marriage up isn't bad enough (I am probably one of the biggest supporters of the marriage and giving Peter and MJ a child) but to finally address the whole Baby May issue at last which eliminates the possibility of it ever happening again, and to bring Harry back, I am feeling my body go into some sort of shock. Man, where is Doom at to just blow Quesada back to whatever Hell he came from...mark my words, when the end days nears, the devil will turn out to be Quesada. He will start demanding all marriages to end if he was in power."

Quesada was also, of course, in charge of Marvel when Captain America died, meaning that he's not only anti-marriage but also anti-America. What's next for this man who's clearly out to undermine everything that you personally hold dear?

OMD Part 4 - Spoilers and Reactions [Newsarama.com]