Although the original Battlestar Galactica developed a cult following after it aired for just one season on ABC in the late ‘70s, the franchise skyrocketed in popularity in the 2000s thanks to the reimagining developed by Ronald D. Moore. That show, which launched with a TV movie in 2003 and wrapped up in 2009 after four seasons, earned critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including winning a Peabody, and it’s certainly one of the best sci-fi TV shows available to stream. Now there’s a new Battlestar Galactica series in the works that will be accessible to people with a Peacock subscription, and in addition to sharing his thoughts about the reboot with CinemaBlend, Moore mentioned how its creator, Sam Esmail, reached out to him about the project.
Our own Mick Joest had the opportunity to speak with Moore at San Diego Comic-Con about his body of work, including other long-concluded shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as current programming like Starz’s Outlander and Apple TV+’s For All Mankind. On the subject of Battlestar Galactica, Moore had this to say when Mick asked him if he felt over “ownership” over the property as this Peacock reboot that was announced in 2019 continues to be developed:
It's just like, godspeed, you know? Like you said, I rebooted and reinvented or whatever the term is we want to use so far. Far be it for me to begrudge anybody else from doing the same thing. And Sam Esmail called me personally to say, ‘Hey, you know, I want to do this. Are you ok with that?’ I was like, ‘You don't really need my permission, but I appreciate it!’ It was a lovely call, and I wish them the best of luck with it.
It’s important to note that unlike Ronald Moore’s Battlestar Galactica, which was set in a separate universe from the original Battlestar Galactica, the new show coming from Sam Esmail, whose TV credits include Mr. Robot and Angelyne, will take place in the same continuity as Moore’s show, which also includes the prequel Caprica and Blood & Chrome. Nevertheless, Moore is fine with someone else playing around with this sci-fi property, and he told Esmail that much when they spoke on the phone. So now we wait for another question to be answered: what will Moore think of the new Battletsar Galactica once it starts airing, assuming he watches it?
Moore’s comments follows three months after Callum Keith Rennie, who played the Number Two-model Cylon known as Leoben, told CinemaBlend that if someone’s going to reboot a property like Battlestar Galactica, “it has to be better than the one prior.” However, five years after the public learned about this new Battlestar series, there still haven’t been any specific plot details revealed, so it’s anyone’s guess what we can expect from it besides robots targeting humanity. In addition to Esmail producing through his company Esmail Corps, it was reported in January that The Sinner’s Derek Simonds came aboard as writer, executive producer and showrunner.
While we wait for any major updates on how Peacock’s Battlestar Galactica is coming along, Ronald D. Moore’s version can currently be streamed with an Amazon Prime Video subscription. There’s also a Battlestar Galactica movie in development, but there’s been no word on its progress since 2020, when it was reported that Simon Kinberg was writing the script and producing.
