Battlestar Galactica Remake Announced By Universal Studios

The “Battlestar Galactica” movie planned by Universal Studios will completely remake the scifi franchise. In Battlestar Galactica, “The Twelve Colonies of Mankind” are locked into a thousand-year war with the cybernetic race, the Cylons. After the Cylons attack the colony worlds, 220 refuge ships flee in search of a legendary thirteenth tribe, Earth, with the Cylons in pursuit.

So far the Battlestar Galactica franchise has included three series that ran in the 1970s, 1980s, and 2003, and a web-series than ran in 2012. The 2003 series ran for four seasons on the SyFy channel and starred Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell.

Rumors of a Battlestar Galactica movie have been circulating since 2009, and now fans have a solid reason to celebrate, according to Variety. Universal’s executive VP of production Scott Bernstein and director of development Jay Polidoro are also working on the “Battlestar Galactica” remake.

The “Battlestar Galactica” remake is already a target of criticism at places like SciFi Movie Page, which claims that the movie “will be a straight-forward remake and not feature any of the 2000s TV series’ actors, characters or storylines” that helped the 2003 series “re-invent the space-opera genre.”

The 2003 reboot was more thought-provoking than the original 1970s version, delving into politics and religion, according to Screen Rant, who says “there’s no telling what we can expect” from the upcoming film. “Star Trek” writer Ron Moore was responsible for the 2003 reboot of critical acclaim and the prequel “Battlestar Galatica: Blood And Chrome” which aired online in November and December of 2012. The original 1970s “Battlestar Galactica” was a Star Wars knock-off that only lasted a single season.

Original series creator Glen Larson will produce the “Battlestar Galactica” film. Glen Larson was not involved in the more popular 2003 “Battlestar Galactica” series, but he did help create the more successful “Magnum, PI” in the 1980s.

Rumor is that Bryan Singer, “X-Men” and “Superman Returns” director, will direct the film. In fact, the “Battlestar Galactica” project was put on hold while Bryan Singer was directing X-men. Singer has already promised to work on the 2016 sequel, “X-Men: Apocalypse,” which may mean another delay for the TBA “Battlestar Galactica” movie if Singer is going to direct the sci-fi remake.

According to The Verge, Jack Paglen will pen the “Battlestar Galactica” screenplay as well Ridley Scott’s upcoming “Prometheus” sequel, and this year’s “Transcendence.” Based on Paglen’s other projects, fans hope that the new “Battlestar Galactica” will also “include a darker tone” like the 2003 reboot.

photo credit: Universal Studio’s 1970s press stills for “Battlestar Galactica”