Bryan Singer's BATTLESTAR GALACTICA to take place in Alternate Universe
It was originally thought that Bryan Singer's big screen adaptation Battlestar Galactica would be more of a re-imagining of the original 1978 TV series. It doesn't look like that will be the case, we now have word from screenwriter John Orloff that the movie will not conflict with either Ron Moore's TV series or the original 1978 Glen Larson series. Basically it will end up taking place in an alternate universe.
Here's what Orloff had to say to HitFix...
I'm a huge fan of the original series and of the second show, too. But I always thought the first show was a little too heavily reliant on 'Star Wars,' you know? Whereas I think the second show was really original and really cool. And I think I've come up with a way to write this movie that won't fuck any of that up. I'm not sure how much they want me to talk about it. Let's just say it's not what you expect. It will all work in the universe that exists. It will not conflict with anything Ron Moore has done. I don't think you can compete with what he's done.
I'm actually a science fiction geek more than anything. I just sort of got type cast as sort of a non-fiction screenwriter. That's because the first thing I ever wrote was 'Anonymous' and then my first job was 'Band of Brothers,' and that led to 'A Mighty Heart.' But I'm a total 'Star Wars' geek. I was a huge 'Star Trek' nut. '2001' is probably my favorite film. Stanley Kubrick is my favorite director; every movie is like a novel in the sense of the metaphoric depths of his thinking. And so my whole life I've always wanted to write a space epic. So to finally get a chance to write in the genre that I wanted to write basically forever is really cool.
It sounds like this BSG movie could get the same type of reboot that J.J. Abrams did with Star Trek, where the story is set in a alternate timeline and universe that will keep everything that happened in the original series and the most recent series safe and intact.
I love the Battlestar Galactica universe, and am extremely excited to see what Signer and Orloff come up with.