Universal Pictures’ upcomingBattlestar Galacticafeature film has found another key crew member. The studio has recruited Jay Basu to rewrite a script fromWestworldco-creatorandBurn Noticescribe Lisa Joy, bringing the long-gestating project one step closer to the big screen.
The movie will be a “reimagining” of Glen A. Larson’s original 1970s television series,The Wrapreports, and not a sequel to or a remake of Ronald D. Moore’s mid-’00s reboot series. Francis Lawrence, the man behindI Am Legend,The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, and the Jennifer Lawrence spy thrillerRed Sparrowis on tap to direct.
Basu’s other credits include Lisbeth Salander’s latest adventure,The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Elizabeth Banks’ upcomingCharlie’s Angelsremake, and aLabyrinthspin-offthat will continue the story that began in Jim Henson’s 1986 fantasy flick.
Universal Pictures has been trying to get aBattlestar Galacticafilm off of the ground since at least 2011 whendirector Bryan Singerand writer Jon Orloff announced that they’d be steering the reboot. Neither individual seems to be attached to the film’s most current iteration.
Battlestar Galacticafirst hit the airwaves in 1978, as Larson, Universal Television, and ABC tried to capitalize on the growingStar Warscraze. The show focused on the crew of the eponymous starship as it led the last remnants of humanity through space on a quest to escape the murderous robots known as the Cylons and find Earth, mankind’s mythical homeworld.
WhileBattlestar Galacticalaunched to respectable ratings and went on to become a cult favorite, it came with a high price tag — episodes reportedly cost$1 millioneach to produce, over twice as much as the average television episode at the time — and quickly fell victim to CBS’ popular comedyAll in the Family, which aired against it. ABC canceledBattlestar Galacticaafter a single season, while 20th Century Fox sued Universal overBattlestar‘s similarities toStar Wars, which came out roughly a year earlier (the case was ultimately settled out of court). A sequel series,Galactica 1980, lasted a mere 10 episodes.
Moore’s take on the property fared better. Starting with a three-hour miniseries that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel (now known as Syfy) in 2003, the revitalizedBattlestar Galacticalasted for four seasons. While die-hard fans initially resisted Moore’s changes to the original source material, the show went on to become a critical hit, launching a franchise that included the prequel seriesCapricaand the web seriesBlood & Chrome— not to mention of the mostcontroversial series finalesof all time.
