BS3: Bryan Singer to remake original Battlestar Galactica (again)?

[DrWho42 13]

The BBC is reporting that Variety is reporting that Bryan Singer is confirmed to direct a theatrical version of Battlestar Galactica.

 

Galactica fandom has been buzzing about this for since February, with much anxiety over whether the new film will take place in (a) the universe of The Original Series, (:P the Ron Moore universe, or © an all-new reboot universe. When the rumors started in February, all signs pointed to a Glen Larson/old school version; MTV News seems a little more optimistic that the film might not be a total object of contempt for addicts of the RDM version:

 

"The project is literally at ground zero right now. With Singer on board, now it's time to find a writer, figure out the course such a project might take. Might Ron Moore step in to deliver a script? Anything is possible."

Source: Galactica Sitrep

 

While this is not new (there was the attempted continuation to Battlestar Galactica around 2001 which ended with Singer leaving to direct X2 and Fox deciding to give Joss Whedon's Firefly a try), it is pretty interesting that it has resurfaced but so soon after the last version finished its run on Sci Fi (cough SyFy)? I can't say it is good timing myself.

Edited August 17, 2009 by DrWho42

[Voyager recruit 0]

I personally hope something happens. I watched the original, and that is waht I think of-flaws ther may be-in the original, which had interesting characters, and an intriguing premise, if I didn't buy the 'colonized Earth' premise, but other than that, was an interesting series, whose fx were then state-of-the art. Maybe Glen Larson will be able to make a Galactica film closer to his original vision, than the newere series, which, to be fair, I have only seen two NBC telemovies, or some kind of ep mashup from BGL 2.0, so, shrug....back in the day, BGL 'Classic' and Star Wars were my two big favorites....and I did see ST:TMP twice...BTW....it would be wonderful, to see Dirk, Richard, and Herb Jefferson again...even if in cameos, and as some other characters....

Edited August 17, 2009 by Voyager recruit

[DrWho42 13]

Don't get me wrong: I loved the original series when I was little. As a fan of both (and an anti-fan of Galactica 1980) though, the announcement seems a little too soon for me. It's like having the next Star Trek movie be a remake of the last one.

[Kor37 9]

I would look forward to a Galactica movie based on the original series.

[Stephen of Borg 2]

I also like the idea of a movie based on the original series. Maybe Dirk Benedict will actually appear in a cameo in this version. I'd really like to see Richard Hatch (originally Apollo, not the Survivor guy) also make a guest appearance since he has been wanting to do a BSG movie for years

[DrWho42 13]

According to Chris Pappas, who ran the Battlestar Galactica Original Costume and Prop Museum, it's not too likely this will get made:

My sources say that the production of this project is iffy at best. Singer was attached to the project in hopes to get approval from the suits later.

 

The guy in charge of the project thinks it will most likely never fly, saying that the #1 at Universal will never approve a Galactica movie since everybody at Universal thinks Galactica was a two bit show on the Sci-Fi Channel and it has little to no fanbase compared to properties like Star Trek or Star Wars, which according to the Universal source, are already very problematic to get approved. He added UCS will never put up the $150 million budget for this, since "Battlestar Galactica" is a horrible name for a movie. :P

 

Even so, multiple scripts will be written and polished. It will neither be original series, nor new series, nor the DeSanto/Singer old version. They’ll get a new writer and new storyline.

 

Disparaging things were said about DeSanto along the way, like that he was whiney and that Moore never stole his version or ideas. He added that DeSanto was paid by Studios USA to develop BSG for Fox, i.e., anything he came up with was bought and paid for.

 

Regarding the Studios USA Galactica project, it was said that when Singer left to do X2, they thought DeSanto didn’t have enough weight to carry something that big, i.e., a $100 million back-door pilot.

 

Studios USA then took their property and ideas and tried selling it to other studios none of which were interested in making something this big with a minor director like DeSanto, so Studios USA ended up with a minor broadcasting company (Sci-Fi Channel) who was willing to take a huge leap in doing this backdoor pilot with a $10 million budget, but wanted their main guy David Eick on it. Eick didn’t want to work with DeSanto either since he had no experience in making good sci-fi television and was basically a movie director used to working with big movie budgets instead of the much smaller Sci-Fi Channel TV budget. He feared it would get out of hand, especially later going into series, and got Ron Moore to join him since he had a good reputation from doing Star Trek TNG, which was a decent sci-fi series made within a tight budget.

 

DeSanto was pissed that they booted him and has been ever since. It was said that DeSanto would now probably try like hell to join Singer on this one, but that would only make things worse in never getting this movie done properly.

 

Glen Larson? The moniker "senile old fool" was applied and it was said that he has now sold the BG name to Universal and he was only mentioned in earlier news bulletins because contractually he needed to be mentioned. Larson won’t have ANYTHING to do with this new movie, simple because Universal will never let him write a single line for a script or even assist on producing it, other than a name credit similar to the one on the new series.

 

Chris

 

Source: Resin Illuminati

Edited August 17, 2009 by DrWho42

[Voyager recruit 0]

The comment about Glen someone in that studio or wherever made was uncalled for. That's not a nice thing to say, about anyone, much less, the man who is responsible for the BGL concept itself.Man, Hollywood is, for all its glitz and glamor, a cold place...like I sometimes quote the talented Brent Spiner, in part, ''That's why they call it show business''...it certainly is a BUSINESS....

[ensign_beedrill 0]

If it is done, I hope it's totally apart from the newer series. When I started watching BSG, I really liked the miniseries and the first season. But it just got progressively worse. The ending wasn't too bad and actually was about what I was expecting the whole time. Except for that weird robot montage... I could have done without that.

 

The older series is somewhere in my queue of television series to watch, but I'm currently running through Doctor Who (just finished the second season), so it's going to take a while.

[oldfan1 0]

I would like to see the movie done based on the Richard Hatch promo reel.

My problem with the Sci Fi Channel version is that it became a political soap opera. If I want a political soap opera I can read a newspaper or watch a cable news channel. For those of you that haven't seen the Hatch promo film here is a link to it.

BSG Hatch Promo

[Voyager recruit 0]

I saw some still images from the site a while back. The Cylons looked neat. I wish Richard had his project go forward. I would think those of us old enough to remember the original-as Glactica as I think of it, from my perspective-would in decent part like to have seen Apollo again, and some of the gang...

[DrWho42 13]

According to Airlock Alpha and MTV, it doesn't seem like it's happening any time soon:

It might be easier to talk about the movies that Bryan Singer is not attached to direct than those he is working on.

 

Last week, Singer made some waves -- both positively and negatively -- with the announcement that he was going to take on a big screen version of "Battlestar Galactica" that had nothing to do with the recently completed SciFi Channel/Syfy series. However, "Battlestar Galactica" is not at the top of his list, according to MTV News.

 

Singer, who made his mark by directing the first two X-Men films and making them blockbuster successes, said he is planning to work on another remake, this time the 1981 film "Excalibur." He also is attached to a big screen version of "Jack the Giant Killer." On top of that, there are some who are throwing Singer's name around to take on one of the X-Men Origins films.

 

Singer hasn't quite yet committed to directing "Excalibur," so it's not clear how much that could affect the rest of his schedule. Right now, he is negotiating with Warner Bros. to at least produce the film continuing Hollywood's love affair with the remake.

 

"Why Warner Bros. is looking to a barely classic film for a redo rather than simply adapting the story answer is beyond me," said MTV blogger Adam Rosenberg. "But I guess there is a shortage of possible titles for a movie about Arthur and his Round Table Knights. the practice of planning remakes has become almost second nature to Hollywood at this point. We can't really blame the studio for marching along to the trendiest beat."

 

Other reports have "Battlestar Galactica" far lower on Singer's priority list than originally thought, which could be a good thing. Some observers, including a few at Airlock Alpha, think it might be a little too soon to try and introduce an entirely different "Battlestar" concept so soon after the conclusion of a critically acclaimed series that carried the same name, but will have absolutely nothing to do with Singer's vision.

 

What would Singer's "Battlestar" be about? Word is that it could be a pickup from the concept he was developing for Fox before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that put the project in limbo before Singer and Tom DeSanto had to drop out. That later paved the way for Universal to move the project to one of its own channels and bring in "Carnivale's" Ronald D. Moore to create the reboot that lasted four seasons on SciFi Channel.

 

But talking about other movies such as "Excalibur" and "Jack" might be more than simply shifting around Singer's priority schedule.

 

"I wonder if it has anything to do with the negative response to his involvement with a new 'Battlestar Galactica' movie potentially having nothing to do with the recently finished SciFi Channel TV series," Rosenberg said. "Perhaps he needed some new project to divert that attention away from him. ['Excalibur'] is certainly a less controversial remake, if nothing else."

 

Source: Airlock Alpha

[Kor37 9]

Its a shame it won't be done. I'm sure Singer's version would be a lot better than that snoozefest remake they had on TV.