The long-gestating reboot of “Battlestar Galactica” is no longer in development at Peacock, Variety has learned exclusively.
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The project was first announced back in 2019 ahead of Peacock’s official launch as part of the streamer’s initial slate of original programming. It was never formally ordered to series, though, and has been in development ever since. Exact story details never emerged, but the show was said to be set in the same continuity as the 2003 “Battlestar Galactica” series.
The reboot was a passion project for Sam Esmail, who was executive producing via Esmail Corp. under the company’s overall deal with studio UCP. Chad Hamilton of Esmail Corp. was also an executive producer. Michael Lesslie had originally come onboard as the writer of the reboot in 2020, but it was reported that he left the project in 2021. Most recently, it was reported in January that Derek Simonds was attached to serve as writer, executive producer, and showrunner.
According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, UCP will shop the project to other outlets.
Peacock has aired very few sci-fi series to date. The NBCUniveral streamer has previously found success with shows like the mystery-of-the-week series “Poker Face” starring Natasha Lyonne (which is prepping it second season), a prequel series to Seth MacFarlane’s “Ted” films (also prepping its second season), and the live-action take on the “Twisted Metal” games (again, prepping a second season). On the horizon, Peacock has shows coming like “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist,” which boasts an all-star cast that includes Kevin Hart, Samuel L. Jackson, Taraji P. Henson, and Don Cheadle.
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The original “Battlestar Galactica” was created by Glen A. Larson and featured cast that included Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, Lorne Greene, and Maren Jensen. It aired for one season in 1978 on ABC, which was followed by a short-lived continuation called “Galactica 1980.” The original also inspired a series of comic books, novels, and both board and video games.
Ronald D. Moore and the Sci Fi Channel (now Syfy) then rebooted the series back in 2003 with a three-hour miniseries, whose cast included Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, and Katee Sackhoff. The success of that project led Syfy and Sky Television to commission a new series with the cast of the miniseries returning. That show proved incredibly popular, running for four seasons and also spawned two TV movies, wrapping up in 2009. A prequel series, “Caprica,” aired on Syfy for one season in 2010.
In “Battlestar Galactica,” humanity has been engaged in a devastating war with a race of sentient robots known as Cylons. After the Cylons destroyed much of the human population living in a series of colonies in a distant star system, survivors aboard civilian ships and the titular battleship strike out to find a long forgotten colony called Earth.
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