Sanctuary Discussion (Spoilers for the most recent episode)

[blueray]

that would be good. i'm still hoping for a mini series or something.

[Rocky89]

that would be good. i'm still hoping for a mini series or something.

A friend of mine talked Amanda and her hubby at the Leo's, and she was told a mini-series or movie is what they had as a backup plan in case things didn't work out. Knowing her, she might bring it up at the expo, or maybe someone will ask her.

But again, wouldn't mini series count as a S5? A movie is also a nice idea.

[Samfan13]

A friend of mine talked Amanda and her hubby at the Leo's, and she was told a mini-series or movie is what they had as a backup plan in case things didn't work out. Knowing her, she might bring it up at the expo, or maybe someone will ask her.

But again, wouldn't mini series count as a S5? A movie is also a nice idea.

Oooooh getting excited now!

[Rocky89]

Oooooh getting excited now!

I don't remember exactly what she told me, I have to go back and check, but something like that.

[RealmOfX]

Oooooh getting excited now!

I wouldn't get too excited, they have always said that a movie was a possibility at the end.

[Skydiver]

I agree. Backup plan is a long way from something that might happen. Remmeber, they gotta find money to pay for it, and that money seems in short supply.
Might be good to keep your feet firmly planted in reality instead of rumors.

Mini series or movie(s) are a common 'maybe' after any series. Very few actually come to fruition.

[blueray]

true, but some do such as farscape (though farscape ending in a cliffhanger).

[Skydiver]

farscape got one, firefly got one. Pretender got 3 movies I think (which I bet was a buyout for them cancelling the show so NBC could air 'saturday night arena football'...a complete and total flop)

star trek always planned to move onto motion pictures to keep that franchise going.

but for every one that got more, plenty got nothing.
the event
heroes
eureka
terra nova

Not trying to be debbie downer, but to interject a note of reality, movies or mini series are ALWAYS a possibility. Just like when people would ask Joe Mallozzi if 'so and so guesting was possible' he'd always answer 'it's possible'....ANYTHING is possible. Maybe not very probable.

I'm not saying there will be no movies or a mini series. There might be. But I'm just saying that 'possible' is a far, far, far cry from probable. It's possible I'll win the lotto. just not very probable

[Jumble]

And there were two Stargate movies too

I think it's nice to have 'possibles', however improbable they may be - keeps us looking on the upside

[Snowman37]

star trek always planned to move onto motion pictures to keep that franchise going.

No, this was simply not the case. Star Trek was going to return to TV as Star Trek: Phase II with everyone returning, except for Spock, who'd be replaced with a new Vulcan character. The success of Star Wars pushed Paramount Pictures to compete. Phase II was scrapped well into production. The first episode was reworked into the script for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. All of the sets, props, costumes, and everything got a cinematic overhaul. The success of this movie lead to The Wrath of Khan which lead to two more sequels. The Voyage Home did so well, Trek finally returned to TV with The Next Generation. Star Trek was wildly successful, so the original cast got two more movies before they bowed out. TNG was considered for an eighth season, but the studio wanted to capitalize on the show's success. It ended in favor of Generations which gave way to three more movies based on TNG. The failure of Nemesis and the cancellation of Enterprise lead to the 2009 reboot movie.

TOS movies were produced on a movie-by-movie basis. There was never a guarantee for that next movie. TNG is the only one which had a planned transition from the TV to the silver screen.

As for TV shows getting promoted to the movie format or capped off with a miniseries...

Farscape: Cancelled by the network (don't know why). The audience was infuriated. Realizing there was profit to be made, SciFi capped off the series with The Peacekeeper Wars, a miniseries or 3-hour movie.
Firefly: FOX simply didn't get it. Episodes aired out of order, the time slot moved around, poor advertising; people like me weren't able to follow the show. DVD sales were through the roof, so Universal took a gamble on Serenity. The movie did well, but not well enough to warrant a sequel as I understand it.
Jericho: Cancelled after one season on about as big a cliffhanger as one can make. The audience spazzed big time and mailed peanuts to CBS by the crate load (long story). The network decided to give it a second chance. Not a movie or a miniseries, but a second season of merely seven episodes. Ultimately, it didn't pull in enough viewers to resurrect the show, but it did allow for an ending.
Lost in Space: Originally, this was to be with the cast and crew of the TV series. After 20 years, it ended up being a remake. Better late than never, and I think doing a remake was the best decision. This was leaps and bounds better than the series.
Star Trek & Star Trek: The Next Generation: See Above
Stargate SG-1: I think we all know this story... Simply put, MGM knew there was an audience for direct-to-video movies to cap off the series.
The X Files: This was simply a wildly successful show in the 90's. It's the only instance I can think of where a high-profile network show got a theatrical movie while the show was still on the air. The second movie took six years (after the finale) to come out due to development limbo. The movie was also a let down. I wouldn't anticipate a third.

Point is, a TV series will be continued or remade in movie or miniseries format if it is deemed profitable. The question is, would a Sanctuary movie or miniseries be a profitable venture? Who would produce it? Who would fund it? Is there demand for it outside of the small fan base? The above examples were all high profile. Sanctuary was a low budget cable show on a network most movie goers consider to be a joke.

[Jumble]

The question is, would a Sanctuary movie or miniseries be a profitable venture? Who would produce it? Who would fund it? Is there demand for it outside of the small fan base? The above examples were all high profile. Sanctuary was a low budget cable show on a network most movie goers consider to be a joke.

I guess the only way to guage that is to look at the series dvd sales figures - wood there be enough projected sales to make a direct-to-dvd movie viable?

[Snowman37]

The biggest hurtle to overcome is the stigma of the show having been on SyFy. Besides, is there a story worth telling in some 100 minutes? Keep in mind, everything will have to be reintroduced to new viewers who didn't watch the show. It simply doesn't have the built in audience that SG-1 had. Consequently, you can't just assume that someone will rent or buy the movie and know what's going on. Most people won't. They'll think it's just some League of Extraordinary Gentlemen knock off, but one that might be worth seeing. If it begins like the SG-1 movies did, it'll be an epic fail. No one knows who "Helen Magnus" is outside of the SyFy channel audience.

[blueray]

i think there would be an audience because people that watched sanctuary would watch it. and it'll deal with the new sanctuary so a non-fan probably could follow it.

[majorsal]

i think there would be an audience because people that watched sanctuary would watch it. and it'll deal with the new sanctuary so a non-fan probably could follow it.

maybe the mini series could be just new enough that newbies could be able to catch on. with what happened in the last ep (especially the end), it would be a great starting point.

[Snowman37]

Honestly, if a 13-episode season wasn't good enough for SyFy, I don't see them doing a miniseries. Really, I think a movie is the best way to go. The question is, is there a story that could be told with a beginning, middle, and ending in just two hours? What would that story be? I think the New Sanctuary would be a good way to reintroduce everything to the audience. Bring in a new character who is new to abnormals to bring in new viewers who don't know what's going on. This would especially help if he or she is a well known TV actor.