Bryan Singer is in the running to bring a new Battlestar Galactica film to life for Universal.
One of the many casualties of Sept. 11, 2001 was the Tom De Santo/Bryan Singer version of “Battlestar Galactica,” designed as a sequel to the ’70s show, which was less than three months from shooting when the attacks on America happened. Since the Cylon sneak attack was a big part of the $14 million backdoor pilot they were about to shoot, Sci-Fi got very nervous about the film, and everything fell apart.
In the time since, obviously, Ron Moore and David Eick and the entire amazing creative team who did bring “Battlestar Galactica” back to television managed to not only get a new show on the air, but they’ve completed their run and they’re gearing up on a spinoff series, “Caprica.”
As a result, Universal seems to feel that there’s more life in the property, and that there is room for another interpretation.
That’s why they’re nearing a deal with Bryan Singer to produce and possibly direct a brand-new “Battlestar Galactica” feature film.
Variety confirms that Universal Pictures has set Bryan Singer to direct and produce a feature version of “Battlestar Galactica.”
It’s not clear whether Ronald Moore, exec producer of the recent series, will be invited to write the screenplay, but Singer will clearly put his own creative stamp on the project, as the studio indicates that the film will be “a complete reimagination.”
Glen Larson is aboard to produce.
The original version of the series ran for two seasons on ABC beginning in 1978. Singer had long been intrigued with “Galactica” and flirted with relaunching it into a TV series right after he directed the original “X-Men” (Daily Variety, Feb. 22, 2001). At the time, he was teamed to exec produce the series with Tom DeSanto and to direct the pilot of the new version.
More than one option
The director got busy on other projects, but he was prescient, at the time calling the Galactica brand “a sleeping giant.” Moore became the executive producer of the 73-episode series, which had a successful run on the then-Sci Fi Channel starting in 2004.
The move negates a prevailing rumor that Singer was flirting with the idea of returning to the X-Men series by taking the reins of “X-Men: First Class,” which focuses on the younger mutant characters seen fleetingly at the Xavier Institute of Higher Learning.
