A new version of “Babylon 5” is in development at The CW from the show’s original creator, J. Michael Straczynski.
The network describes the new version as a “from-the-ground-up” reboot, though it will again be centered on the character of John Sheridan, who was played by Bruce Boxleitner in the original version.
Here is the logline for the project from The CW:
In a from-the-ground-up reboot of the original series, John Sheridan, an Earthforce officer with a mysterious background, is assigned to Babylon 5, a five-mile-long space station in neutral space, a port of call for travelers, smugglers, corporate explorers and alien diplomats at a time of uneasy peace and the constant threat of war. His arrival triggers a destiny beyond anything he could have imagined, as an exploratory Earth company accidentally triggers a conflict with a civilization a million years ahead of us, putting Sheridan and the rest of the B5 crew in the line of fire as the last, best hope for the survival of the human race.
Straczynski is the only one attached to the project. Warner Bros. is the studio.
“Babylon 5” ran for five seasons and more than 110 episodes in the 1990s. It first debuted as a TV movie called “The Gathering” before airing the majority of its episodes in syndication and on the now-defunct Prime Time Entertainment Network (it would later move to TNT). A short-lived spinoff series called “The Crusade” aired for one season on TNT.
Along with Boxleitner, the original series featured an ensemble cast that included Michael O’Hare, Claudia Christian, Jerry Doyle, Mira Furlan, Richard Biggs, Andrea Thompson, Stephen Furst and Jason Carter.
Straczynski most recently created, wrote and show-ran (with the Wachowski siblings) the Netflix series “Sense8.”
Straczynski is represented by A3 Artists Agency and Gendler-Kelly.