Farscape mini-series possibly in the works

Phillip

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IGN FilmForce is reporting some exciting news about a possible return of Farscape...

IGN FilmForce Exclusive: Farscape May Be Ready for a Return
Could a new mini-series be announced as early as this weekend?

Farscape, the ratings-challenged Sci-Fi Channel series that prompted an international rescue campaign, may be getting a chance to go out on its own terms. A reliable source told IGN FilmForce this week that a 4-hour mini-series was currently being prepped for production by Henson. Set to lens in Australia, the home to the original series, the mini would be a continuation of the final episode and a possible wrap-up that would tie all of the dangling plot threads together.

This comes as good news to fans who were dismayed by the "To Be Continued..." tag at the end of the final episode in the series, "Bad Timing." With most of the cast set to appear at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, there is a possibility that Henson Company could make an announcement during the convention. Series star Ben Browder's appearance at the Comic-Con's Farscape panel has added to the speculation that an announcement may be forthcoming.

Predictably, Henson Co. is being cagey with information about a potential Farscape mini. After asking the company for a response for this story, they took four hours to come up with, "Though there are currently no plans for any immediate Farscape projects to be produced, the 'To Be Continued' ending in the final episode signifies The Jim Henson Company's commitment to the property and our belief that there are future opportunities for it to grow. We truly appreciate all of the continued fan support and commitment to Farscape." Which is a really fancy way of saying "no comment."

If Henson is getting ready to produce a Farscape mini-series, the big question could be, "Who are they producing this for?" A representative for the Sci-Fi Channel confirmed to IGN FilmForce that the network knows nothing about a Farscape mini-series. If Sci-Fi is not involved with a new Farscape mini, then where would it run? Most networks aren't interested in running a mini-series based on a series they didn't run and Sci-Fi's contract has quite a bit of time left on it, so there are some questions that will need to be answered if or when an announcement is made. One thing is certain, though: if there is a possibility for any kind of continuation of Farscape, it will be welcome news to the fans that have tried to keep the series alive through television ads, e-mail & letter campaigns and outright threats.

http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/428/428875p1.html?fromint=1&submit.x=72&submit.y=19
 

Chilly Down

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Very cool and intriguing! Thanks for posting this, Phil. For legal reasons, I don't think we'll hear anything till after the sale is finalized on Aug. 1, or maybe not even till after the Creation con in November woos potential bigwigs. But it's always nice to know what's in the works.
 

Buck-Beaver

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IGN Filmforce followed up this story with another yesterday, basically saying there is no story (yet). Fans packed the ComicCon Farscape panel this weekend but everyone in attendence said they have heard nothing about a mini-series either way. Sci-Fi denies they are involved in any such project. I think everyone involved wants to do something else with Farscape, but it's hard to see what they will do without Sci-Fi. It might have to wait until another network picks up the series and agree to back a mini-series. This has happened before, TNT did a series of Babylon 5 movies when they picked up the rerun rights to that cult series.

The full Filmforce article is as follows:

July 18, 2003 - With speculation running rampant about a possible announcement regarding a Farscape mini-series, fans of the series packed a panel for the series at the San Diego Comic-Con, hopeful for some news of the series' future. While no direct announcements regarding the story posted on IGN FilmForce earlier this week were made, stars of the show were hopeful that the series had some kind of future.

Stars of the series, cancelled almost a year ago by Sci-Fi Channel, applauded the commitment of the fans and their efforts to get the series back on the air. When specifically asked about the story, Ben Browder, who played astronaut John Crichton on the series, relayed that he had called Executive Producer Brian Henson in London when he heard the news and was told to say nothing. No confirmation, no denial, just stay mum on the subject while reiterating Henson Co.'s commitment to the series. But if there is a mini-series or a new series, Browder plans to be there, even if "they film it in Iceland," the actor joked. Actor Lani Tupu, best known as Crais and the voice of Pilot, summed up all of the information they had on the subject when he said "before anyone asks, we don't know."

While there was nothing definite to be said at the convention, the lack of a denial has led to speculation about just where a mini-series might wind up. As reported earlier in the week, Sci-Fi Channel currently has no knowledge of a new Farscape project. Another possible home that has been speculated by fans is Henson's former partner in the Odyssey Channel, Hallmark. Now sole owners of the re-branded Hallmark Channel, representatives from the network have assured IGN FilmForce that the network is not involved with any Henson project, including Farscape.

According to a number of industry sources, it's unlikely that any deal to broadcast a mini-series or even a 5th season could be made without including the previous 4 seasons in the package. If that's the case, the Farscape fans, also known as Scapers, may have to wait a while: a representative from Sci-Fi Channel has confirmed that the network has the exclusive U.S. rights to the series until March of 2005.

Another theory would have Henson producing the mini-series as a way to launch the series for syndication in Fall of 2004. While this might be a little bit of wishful thinking on the part of the fans, it does have some potential. Even though Sci-Fi owns the series until early '05, Henson can still pre-sell the series for U.S. syndication prior to that. The costs of re-building the sets and working out deals with the cast and crew, estimated at one point by Producer David Kemper as being around $14 million, could be justified if the pre-sales to stations in the U.S. are good.

Meanwhile, the Scapers continue to keep the faith. The main hub of the Save Farscape campaign, www.savefarscape.com, has reportedly raised over $100,000 for their efforts to keep the series in the public eye with more donations coming in all the time. New viewers are finding the series, thanks to stories about the cancellation in the press and episode being released on home video and DVD. Sci-Fi Channel continues to run the series in the U.S. on Sunday nights, exposing some new fans to the series for the first time. Entire sites on peer-to-peer file sharing programs are devoted to the series, helping fans access episodes they might have missed. A convention devoted solely to the series, ScaperCon, is set for the first weekend of August in Chicago.

Not bad for a series that only a limited number of people got to see during its first run. More on the story as it develops at IGN FilmForce.
 

dwmckim

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Looks Like It's A Go!

Did some searching and i wasn't successful in finding any recent discussions on this yet here...but assuming i haven't missed something, here it is folks...

IT DOES APPEAR IT IS HAPPENING!

There's been two reliable tips that have just come out. Toughpigs posted tonight that they received word from an "irrefutable source" that a four-hour miniseries will be happening and that it starts shooting in November.

Prior to that, someone from the Save Farscape movement had announced on their strategizing forums that some SaveScapers attended the Henson dedication on the 24th and that they ran into Brian at the ceremony and he thanked them for their work and what they've been able to do...then during the evening film festival, they were able to talk with Martin Baker and someone else from Henson (an attorney, Alan...the poster couldn't remember/didn't get the full name) who told them Brian had received the call the day before that they have funding to do a feature film and they will be going ahead!

So there will be some form of new Farscape, though until an official announcement is made or someone else in the know is able to provide some more verification/info, it's unclear as to specifically whether it will be in the form of a major motion picture or a miniseries...but at least there will be more Scape.

I'm hoping that they're able to answer some of the hanging questions but at the same time, leave things open to where the story can continue further in the form of more films or hopefully by the time the film is made and able to be viewed, SciFi Channel will have either released the rights (or the rights have expired) to air the original 88 episodes so another network may be in a stronger position to pick up the series.

Along those lines, i'd even be happy if it was a Farscape story that took place at some point in time "within" the series as opposed to where the story left off (esp if this was a film since it's a challenge to write for the old viewers and people new to the story/characters while presenting a work that stands alone on its own) so that a wider audience can be introduced to Farscape and give the fans some new material and get the momentum going again to fill up the time between all that needs to take place behind the scenes to where a deal can be reached for a higher profile network to commision more episodes of the tv series. Plus that way, even if SciFi still has the rights to the reruns at that time, a wider audience will be familiar with the story/charatcers via the film/miniseries - plus anyone who wants to catch up should be able to take advantage of the DVD/videos since by the time a movie/mini is made, all the episodes should be released by then (in the US - most other countries do have them all out by now).
 

Chilly Down

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Thanks for the update, D.W.! Wonder what form the revived project will eventually take, but it sounds like good things are happening.

Even though this is filming in November, I would bet it wouldn't happen till after the Farscape convention that same month. I have a feeling they'd want to have a big celebration with the whole cast to thank the fans, and the actors wouldn't be available if they're already filming at that point.

I also wonder how long we'll have to wait for an official announcement. But again, things are happening! And I for one am quite excited.

(Oh, and congratulations on your Mens Chorale award!)
 
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