J. Michael Straczynski may have announced that his new Forbidden Planet is "not exactly a prequel" to the original movie, but if a leaked synopsis is to be believed, we're calling shenanigans on that.
IESB.net claim to have found out the plot of the new movie, and it's sounding very prequel-y to us. According to the site, the new movie - apparently a potential James Cameron project once he's finished with Avatar - will center around the ill-fated voyage of the Bellerophon, the disappeared ship that the original movie's C-57D crew traveled to Altair IV to find.
IESB calls this idea "genius, pure genius," but I'm unconvinced. I mean, we know what happens to the crew of the Bellerophon in broad strokes, unless this is a reboot of the whole concept and doesn't lead into the original movie, in which case, what's the point? And more importantly, how is this not a prequel? It's telling the story that leads up to the story that we already know - isn't that the very definition of a prequel? Just because it tells another story as well - and that story, about a journey to discovery the source of a transmission that changed human evolution and in part explained in IESB's recap, seems much more interesting than the Altair IV story - doesn't stop it from being a prequel, otherwise Star Trek wouldn't have needed a complete reboot to wash itself clean of the stink of Enterprise.
Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against prequels - well, aside from Enterprise, obviously - but I'm wondering what the point of saying that it's "not exactly a prequel" was, when it quite clearly is. Are prequels bad news and nobody told me?
IESB Exclusive: Story Details Part 1 - FORBIDDEN PLANET [IESB]