Jack Paglen To Help Battlestar Galactica Transcend To The Big Screen

Sometimes, there’s a movie project that just doesn’t go away. They rumble on in the background for decades, with concepts kept alive only by the sheer willpower of those dedicated individuals involved. Battlestar Galactica is one such project – but now, it seems like it’s one step closer to fruition as Transcendence writer Jack Paglen has been hired to deliver a script.

Created by Glen A. Larson (Knight Rider, Magnum P.I, Quincy M.E) as a science fiction TV series in 1978, Battlestar Galactica ran for one season – ending in April 1979. It featured the premise that would provide the basis for every iteration of the show that followed – that our future humanity has migrated to a distant area of the galaxy, known as the Twelve Colonies, from where they have been defending themselves against a cybernetic race known as The Cylons. During a vicious attack, human survivors flee aboard spaceships, but are picked off by the enemy. Only the Battlestar Galactica seems to survive, and heads off in search of the mythical colony known as Earth.

A year after cancellation, 10 episodes of Battlestar 1980 were broadcast. After that cancellation, Larson, original series star Richard Hatch and director Bryan Singer all worked tirelessly to revive the show. Prior to 2003, it was Singer that came closest, with sets being partially constructed for a TV miniseries for FOX TV. That attempt was ultimately shelved due to production delays, which caused Singer to exit the project for his commitments to X2.

All the pieces came together in 2003, however, with a three hour miniseries on the Sci Fi Channel, written by Ronald D Moore (Star Trek), and produced by David Eick (Hercules, Xena, American Gothic). Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell were cast, with originally male characters Starbuck and Boomer now filled by Katee Sackhoff and Grace Park. The success of the endeavour led to a new weekly TV series in 2004, which ran until 2009.

But, finally achieving television success with the concept – 25 years after it originally aired – was not enough. Apart from TV movies Battlestar Galactica: Razor (2007) and Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (2008), networks determined that there was more cash in this cow, and attempted some spin-off series. A prequel show – Caprica – ran from January 2010 to October 2010, while Syfy proposed Blood And Chrome – which didn’t even make it to broadcast, and became a 10-part webseries instead.

At the same time, negotiations were underway for a feature film. Larson entered talks with Universal in 2009 as the successful series ended, and Bryan Singer intended to direct the project – but was once again needed elsewhere for Jack The Giant Slayer. John Orloff (Band Of Brothers) climbed aboard to write the script, which was being revised by 2012.

The project all but fell silent once again, until Jack Paglen arrived on the scene. As his first feature film screenplay is about to hit cinemas with Transcendence, this rising star has a great deal of momentum behind him and has been hired to write the script for Battlestar Galactica, in addition to the sequel to Prometheus. Glen A. Larson is still locked in as producer, as Battlestar fans around the world hold their collective breath once again.

Could Paglen be the new blood this project needs? Will Bryan Singer finally get to direct it? Will Battlestar Galactica reach its cinematic destination at last? Stay tuned for further developments, as and when they happen.