Universal in talks for 'Battlestar' movie

THR's Borys Kit has the scoop, my comments below:

Just as the acclaimed Sci Fi Channel series "Battlestar Galactica" enters its final episodes, Universal has quietly entered into negotiations with Glen A. Larson to write and produce a big-screen version of the property he created.

"Battlestar," which originally aired on ABC in 1978, was produced in the wake of the success of "Star Wars," which caused a sci-fi revival in popular culture. The premise involved a human civilization living on a series of 12 planets that are decimated from an attack by intelligent robots known as Cylons. The survivors are led by a starship called Galactica in their attempt to find a mythic 13th planet named Earth.

The Sci Fi series, under the direction of executive producer Ronald Moore, took the premise and ran with it, incorporating the politics of war, religion, torture and destiny, becoming the channel's signature series.

Moore is not involved in the movie.

The movie effort would have no connection to the series and would relaunch the story in a new medium. However, staples such as the characters Adama, Starbuck, and Baltar will remain.

Larson was one of the biggest names in 1970s and '80s TV and creator of shows like "Switch" and "Magnum P.I." Universal had no comment.

Comment: This is, obviously, potentially huge news for fans of the original "Battlestar" that have objected to Moore's realistic and operatic re-imagining on Sci Fi Channel. Moore's post-9/11 take has wowed critics and created a legion of new fans, while the Larson camp has longed for a return to the lighter, adventures-in-space post-"Star Wars" spirit of the original. But would Larson opt to re-tell the apocalyptic origin story yet again? Or go with something entirely different?

Comments

[Carl Jonard]

Adama, Starbuck, and Baltar were characters in the original series. This movie has nothing to do with what will happen in the series finale.

[Meohfumado]

But Moore's version is chock full of awesome, and the original series was chock full of suck.

[Duffy]

This'll never happen. And it's HARDLY a scoop--this is just one of those rumors that pops up every few years, and has been doing so for a long time. It's no more true now than it was forever ago--but young reporters hear about it and think they've got something new to report. Nope--ain't gonna happen.

[Duffy]

And besides that point--the new BSG is FAR more popular and successful than the old one, so common sense alone should tell anyone with half a brain that this isn't going to happen. Now, I'm a major fan of both, so I'm not hating on the original series--but let's be real here, folks. This has as much chance of happening as George W. Bush did of putting together an intelligent sentence.

[Andy W.]

Even if this WERE true, it's certainly not a THR scoop--IGN posted this so-called "news" earlier today. Sorry, THR.

[Bickle]

Who says we longed for the "lighter, adventures in space" motif?

We long for something accurate and true to the original series, with the characters not polar opposites of what they were in the original. A show with a creator that doesn't publicly despise the original show and goes out of his way to moon the fans at every opportunity. A show where the creator actually watched more than the movie version of the pilot before making wild assumptions and "re-imagining".

Star Trek: TNG and the new Doctor Who are very different shows from the original, both take place decades after their predecessors, and both adhere to original continuity and were/are wildly successful. If I "re-imagined" Star Trek with Kirk as a celibate lesbian and Spock and McCoy being the best of friends, and emotionally inseparable. I'd be lynched. Just because BSG doesn't have the same mass of fanbase, it's "brilliant"

[Bickle]

"And besides that point--the new BSG is FAR more popular and successful than the old one, so common sense alone should tell anyone with half a brain that this isn't going to happen"

You need to check your history then. The original was a top-ten show for much of its run, the original scored huge ratings for Sci-Fi for years before Ron Moore's abomination came along. People nagged so much for a revival that it was actually in their FAQ for ten years before it finally happened that they weren't going to do a revival. It was consistently a fixture in top-ten lists, and never left syndication air, despite only having 23 episodes (no one likes G80, not the fans, not the people who made it, nor the people who acted in it) in the 25 years between shows.

Ron Moore has spent a lot of time spreading propaganda because he wants to own the franchise for his own. That's what "re-imagining" is: Stealing other people's base ideas and proper nouns, and making people forget about any version but your own.

[Chuck]

This has happened before... and will happen again!

[Kevin]

The original series was back in the day of many millions of viewers with no substantial cable competition. The big 3 networks were really big then. The SciFi channel has a long way to go to even come close in numbers and I actually like some of the new version. I own most of the DVDs, but I notice how they languish on the store shelves while the original series flew off the shelves and is now hard to find. At least most of the original cast are still alive to do their original roles or be in featured cameos. This could end up being like all the differing versions of Superman and Batman.

[Benocioah]

I loved the clip of the razor series that showed young Adama fighting the centurion in mid-air. I think a retro-ish prequel about the Cylon war would KICK F'ING ASS. Total action, Tigh and Adama kicking butt together. How much more awesome could that get?

[Tri]

Ugh, NO. Do Not Want. Perfectly happy with the new series which is a vast improvement on the painfully sexist and heterosexist of the '78 version (and yes, I HAVE watched '78, for my sins). This is just going to get newcomers to the whole franchise confused yet again, as if it wasn't already hard enough to get the people of my generation and younger to ditch preconceptions about the 21st century reimagining of the show because of its title.

[Tri]

*heterosexist '78 version

(yes, I edited and forgot to edit the rest of the sentence to agree. meh.)

[cesardlg]

bickle, you need to check your facts. the original only ran for one season. it has a cult following but it is no where near as popular as the current one. it was not a successful series. the current one with a small budget is because the storyline has been thought out. all the old one did was include action sequences.

[Ray Seidel]

And the original series was released as a theatrical feature - so has ALREADY been on The Big Screen.
In any case, Glen Larson wrote some first rate stories for BG and BG 1980. (And some lame ones, too). He owns the movie rights (long ago gave up TV rights). And for those who have seen the BG trailer Richard Hatch made, you KNOW what the potential is!

[John]

PLEASE make this a continuation of the 70s series Glen - we already have a 're-imagining' so a 2nd would just be weird. Continuing were the original series left off makes MUCH more sense. Richard Hatch should - of course - star, and deserves it after all the effort he made lobbying to get a sequal series green-lit.

Whilst BSG (new one) and The Dark Knight (for example) are both cool, they're extremely gritty and depressing. Dare to lighten up again and give us a true 'space opera'... being the FUN back to sci-fi and make a film that'll have George Lucas frothing at the beard with envy hahaha!!!

Keep that awsome theme tune too - to hear THAT re-recorded in True HD surround sound would grab the auience by the balls from the very first second of footage.

Fingers crossed here - please don't mess with something that doesn't need messing with. We have the new series, lets have fun with the old again (ok maybe without the cheesy funk cantina music and daggits...!).

Best of luck Sir :)

p.s. Give a role to Erin Gray too - she's still hot ;)

- Mugz

[darklighter1]

Oh please! Hey I loved the original too WHEN I WAS 8 but it hardly holds up to this new version. Moore took the general premise and ran with it where Larson started running out of ideas half way through 1 season! Does everyone remember the Eastern Alliance? DO you really want to see them or the creator of them get his hands on this material again? It's like when Lucas recreated Star Wars and gave us Jar Jar Binks....is this what you want Bickle? Please spare us! Watch the final Moore episodes and retire the series. It is perfection as is.

[Bickle]

No, and I specifically said that isn't what I wanted, which I said in the first line of my very first post

I wanted a modernization of the original, not designed, like the original was for a "family hour" time slot in 1979

I want a true continuation, or if they must, faithful rebirth of the original series with all of its mythology and characters intact (sans kid and daggit, why Moore put Boxey in at ALL when he was so against the cheese is beyond me). Everyone, even Glen Larson wanted that 20 years ago. I want the return of a proper orchestral score instead of jungle drums, and I want it not to be a risque love child of West Wing and Space Above and Beyond. That was the show that Moore actually remade, Netflix it and see.

Tom DeSanto, who hypothetically is still producing this literally was 3 weeks from shooting a Bryan Singer directed revival for Fox, a revival I might add that pissed Moore off when he found out that DeSanto had had a lot of "his" ideas already. It picked the show up 20 years after the original, featured humanoid cylons, (which were actually introduced in G80, which no one in the known universe thinks was a good show), and most importantly original actors and continued. Fox proper decided that Singer needed to do X2 instead, and the thing was torpedoed without his name to attach to it.

The Mooreites always assume that people want the original back, unchanged. We just want our show back in a recognizeable form, moving forward, and not just serving someone's ego by stealing other people's proper nouns

[BSGtweets]

Well, my opinion is a bit longer ... you can read it here: http://www.e-fee.de/bsgtweets/blog/2009/02/22/my-personal-opinion-on-a-possible-bsg-movie-why-not-take-richard-hatchs-continuation/

[trwytew]

That is shit!
No place for the old BSG
is cheese!!!!!!!!!
ridicule
comic
morons
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[Tylermo]

Not sure if a motion picture is a good idea or not. If this new project(which has been talked about for years seemingly) is to happen, it should be some sort of tv mini-series instead. Or, maybe some sort of direct-to-dvd throwback for the old fans. Get as much of the old cast as possible, mixed in with some new characters...and go for it. IF it needs to happen at all. Let me point out that I'm a huge fan of both orignal and new BSG. Given the choice, I think I'd rather see an original spin-off, or continuation than the new Caprica spin-off. That trailer just didn't grab me. Oh well. I'm sure the debates will continue. Meanwhile, I'll just enjoy my dvd's of both series. Hell, I even bought a discounted Galactica 1980 just for laughs(and 10 year old nostalgia). Yep. G80 was just as bad since the last time I saw them on Sci-Fi)in the mid-90's. Of course, I already knew that when I bought the set. Glutton for punishment, I guess. hehe

[Allen Charles]

Moore's version is downright DARK, very dark while Larson’s was much more hopeful. There is also the possibility Larson could follow the Moore version and make a movie using the present story line or character set. A good movie that answers some question not yet answered in the series would be or could be interesting to see.

The last few episodes in the series about the original five or six having come from Earth to the colonies has kind of opened a speculation in my mind about the Earth they lived on and actually rekindled my interest in the series. The DARKNESS that Moore introduced in the series was not my favorite way to tell a story, but it does seem to be appreciated by allot of the real fans of the series so I would not have suggested it to be removed from his approach. I do hope Caprica the new series somehow explores this Earth of the original 5 .

[trwytew]

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Bad idea
No
No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cheesy!
Nooooooooooooooooooooooo

[michelle pacheco]

why oh why did Moore's Battlestar Galactica have to end. I am so sad.

[Stephen]

First, I am a fan of both the original and the RDM versions...I even have a soft spot in my heart for 1980. The RDM version took a little time to grow on me...I wanted a continuation but as soon as I accepted RDM was creating a new version, I came to enjoy it and even love it more. At no point--meaning NEVER--did I EVER feel the Moore disparaged the old show. I actually really enjoyed the many nods he and his staff threw in. If there was anything he was railing against it was Star Trek--and rightfully so. After watching Moore's version, I started to understand how awful Star Trek--especially TNG-- really was. I am interested to see a new continuation by Larson. Hopefully--if he is given proper control--this will include what worked with the original and jettison what didn't.

[Tracy]

I watched the original alot when I was kid, but it doesnt hold up today. Thats why it faded into cult status. The original of course was kid friendly, as were most shows on television at the time. However since then, thankfully, writers have grown abit. I wouldnt mind a movie based on Larson's original, but I think it wouldnt be too successful.
There is already a fanbase for the new one. I just suggest telling the story about the cylon war that took place with Col. Tigh and Adama.
It could actually get new fans for the show if done correctly, and lastly, done with the help of Ron Moore.