This truly is the age of sci-fi revivals. The Star Wars franchise just kicked off a new era of live action entries with The Force Awakens last December. The Star Trek movie reboots have been performing well since 2009, and CBS will bring the property back as an online series in 2017. However, one project that hasn’t gained much traction lately is Universal’s theatrical Battlestar Galactica reboot. The last major update we got was in 2014, and since then news on its development has been almost nonexistent. Well, evidently it’s still a go, as they’ve just brought aboard a successful producer.
The Social Network’s Michael de Luca has signed on to produce Battlestar Galactica, according to The Tracking Board. This doesn’t provide any new details on the movie’s creative direction, but de Luca reportedly describes himself as a "huge Battlestar Galactica fanatic," so that should prove beneficial. De Luca’s other producing credits include Moneyball, Captain Phillips, Fifty Shades of Grey and the Syfy miniseries Childhood’s End. Like previous tellings, the Battlestar Galactica movie will follow the remnants of humanity who escaped the destruction of their worlds at the hands of the Cylons. While continuing to evade these robotics menaces, they attempt to find the mythical planet Earth to make their new home.
Although the original Battlestar Galactica only aired for one season, it became a cult classic, though the same can’t be said for its follow-up, Galactica 1980. There were several attempts to make a Battlestar Galactica movie, in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, but they were put on hold when Sci-Fi aired their reboot series, which aired for four seasons and earned critical acclaim for most of its run. This revival was followed by two prequels: Caprica, which only aired for one season, and the two-hour Blood and Chrome, which was intended to kick off a new series, but failed to do so.
Bryan Singer had been set to direct Battlestar Galactica since the project’s infancy in 2009, but he departed it in 2014. It's not like he'd have time to do it now anyway, what with 20,000 Leagues the Sea and possibly more X-Men movies. Transcendence writer Jack Paglen penned the most recent version of the script, which is expected to draw more inspiration from the 1978 series rather than the reimagining. Presumably it will still have a darker tone, as the original series was often times quite campy. It’s only been seven years since the last TV series concluded, so one would think more time would be needed to make sure the cinematic reboot isn’t still caught in the show’s shadow. That said, at the rate the movie’s development is going, it’s possible we may not even see it until sometime next decade.
We’ll keep you apprised of any updates regarding the Battlestar Galactica reboot, but for now, let us know in the comments what you think about the property finally being brought to the big screen.
