Koenig Touts Possible New B5, Straczynski Denies

Fans at last week's Las Vegas Star Trek convention got a bit of a shocker from Walter Koenig. His quote (via TrekMovie.com):

"[J. Michael Staczynski] told me that he is in negotiations to re-acquire the rights to Babylon 5 and it looks pretty good. Now what that portends I am not entirely sure. It could be a new series or it could be a feature film, but he was quite animated about it. He seemed very excited and Warner Brothers is dealing with him in good faith. So you might see another Babylon 5 in the not too distant future."

So maybe there's reason for B5 fans to get excited after all. Or maybe not. Straczynski is denying the rumors. "Walter misspoke," he told Spinoff Online, "I am not in negotiations with WB to develop more Babylon 5."

It's interesting, though, that he said "I am not in negotiations with WB to develop" vs. "I am not in negotiations with WB to buy back some rights." Could this be part of an ongoing negotiation? Or should B5 fans just forget about it?

Straczynski has re-visited B5 a couple of times since the series ended, TrekMovie says, including Babylon 5: The Lost Tales as recently as 2007. Based on Straczynski's announcement in 2008 that while there'd be no more Lost Tales he'd work on a feature film, they suspect that's what he might have in mind for B5's future. Io9 agrees, suggesting that "the tech advances in CG might even help 'update' some of the more... silly alien looks."

What do you think? More to the point, do you think there's really a market for more B5 on the big (or little) screen?

(via @gwensdad)