Babylon 5: The Lost Tales

Production

The project consists of a single direct-to-DVD production containing two stories. It was shot in high-definition video with digital HD cameras in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Visual effects were handled by Atmosphere Visual Effects, who had worked on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica and Stargate Atlantis. Christopher Franke, composer for the original Babylon 5 series, provided the music. Douglas Netter and Straczynski served as executive producers. An HD version was released exclusively on the Xbox Live Video Marketplace concurrently with the DVD.

Concept

Straczynski, a fan of The Twilight Zone and Rod Serling, had long discussed the possibility of a science fiction anthology show. He first proposed a Tales from Babylon 5 anthology as the sixth season of the original show in 1997, describing it as an anthology series using characters like a repertory group. As an alternative, he suggested character-focused short films in an anthology format and requested complete creative freedom, which he said the studio granted. While envisioned as an anthology, Straczynski stated he would like thematic links on each disk; the first two episodes for Voices in the Dark have stronger connections through intersecting key plot and thematic points, telling separate but simultaneous stories.

Voices in the Dark

The Lost Tales DVD was released under the title "Voices in the Dark." J. Michael Straczynski wrote, produced, and directed it. The project was initially conceived as three half-hour episodes, but this was later reduced to two longer stories, totaling 75 to 90 minutes of narrative content, with extra features bringing the DVD to two hours. Straczynski had started writing the first script by August 26, 2006, and the stories depended on which original cast members could be secured.

The first three scripts originally included John Sheridan, Elizabeth Lochley, Galen, and Michael Garibaldi, but the Garibaldi story, which required the most ambitious special effects and sets, was postponed to a planned second DVD, allowing the other two stories to be expanded. Production began on November 13, 2006, after delays caused by the unavailability of some crew and cast, and the DVD was fully delivered to the studio by April 15, 2007. Straczynski, who had previously directed only the Babylon 5 series finale, used new tools to slightly redesign the show's visual style, aiming to set a tone for future films, which he intended for other directors to handle. The DVD was released in the US on July 31, 2007, and in the UK on September 3, 2007.

Future installments

Straczynski initially said a second installment could be released in early 2008 at the earliest, predicated on the success of Voices in the Dark. Peter Jurasik stated he was contacted to reprise Londo Mollari for alien-centric stories and agreed if Straczynski wrote it. The second installment was also to include a Garibaldi-centered story. Straczynski had a concept for a direct-to-DVD Telepath War story.

Future installments were put on hold due to the 2007 WGA strike; before the strike, Straczynski urged Warner Brothers to commission a new DVD, but they refused to speed up the process, believing the Guild would not strike. After the strike, at the Emerald City Comic Convention in May 2008, Straczynski noted two Warner Bros. divisions were discussing a feature film or more Lost Tales but had not guaranteed him total creative control for a feature film.

On July 13, 2008, Straczynski revealed he had no plans to continue, citing disappointment with the low budget and not wanting to dilute Babylon 5's legacy. He said he would only return if Warner Bros. wanted a large-budget cinema release. In 2023, Straczynski and WB partnered to produce a direct-to-video Babylon 5 animated movie, The Road Home.