Our favorite space-faring warship is being put back in commission by NBCUniversal, which has set a reboot of Battlestar Galactica for its upcoming Peacock streaming service. According to Deadline, the new series comes from Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail.
We don’t know anything about the reboot itself except that Esmail is a “huge fan of Battlestar Galactica,” per the outlet, which also reports a reboot of the beloved sci-fi series was high on the creator’s list when he signed a four-year exclusivity deal with NBCU. Chad Hamilton, one of Esmail’s collaborators on Mr. Robot, is also set to executive produce.
Deadline says that Ronald D. Moore, who led the 2003 Battlestar Galactica reboot, has given Esmail’s take his blessing. Moore’s series, which tackled a struggle between man and machine following apocalyptic terrorist attacks on a group of planets called the Twelve Colonies, was a thinly-veiled allegory for the war on terror and later the invasion of Iraq. It is hailed as one of the greatest sci-fi series ever made. It aired on Syfy.
The original Battlestar Galactica, which was created by Glen A. Larson, ran for just one season from 1978 to 1979 and was revived as Galactica 1980 just a year later for one season. While it remained a cult favorite for decades, it arguably never reached the heights of Moore’s reboot, which itself has spawned several spinoff series, including the two prequels Caprica and Blood & Chrome.
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Since Moore’s series came to an end in 2009, NBCU has explored bringing back Battlestar Galactica as a movie, hiring several writers to pen and revise the script for a project that would have reportedly existed somewhere between both Larson and Moore’s series. This movie is now likely dead, at least for now. It’s unclear at the moment what direction Esmail’s version will take.
Unsurprisingly, no production or premiere date has yet been set for this reboot, but you can expect NBCU’s Peacock to launch in April. The service’s original scripted programming will begin to roll out next fall.
John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9 and make sure to check him out on Twitch.