'Battlestar Galactica' Movie Gets a New Screenwriter

The Battlestar Galactica movie has found a new screenwriter.

According to The Wrap, Universal Pictures has tapped Jay Basu to rewrite the script for the film reboot of Glen Larson's original 1978 series. Westworld's Lisa Joy had previously written an earlier draft of the script. Basu's other work includes The Girl in the Spider's Web and work on the upcoming Charlie's Angels reboot.

The Battlestar Galactica movie, which has been in the works since 2009, will be directed by Red Sparrow director Francis Lawrence. Earlier this year, Lawrence confirmed that despite the long development process the film adaptation of the cult classic science fiction series was still going forward.

"Yeah, I'm working on that, that's something I'm developing," Lawrence told ComingSoon in February. "I'm working on that with Lisa Joy, who is one of the creators of Westworld. The original series was actually one of the first sets that I ever went on. I remember being a kid and loving that show and they were filming near my house and my mom took me down there and I got to try on a Cylon helmet."

The film won't be the first time the series has been adapted or built upon. Larson's original series spawned the short-lived Galactica 1980 while Ron Moore rebooted the series in 2004 to mainstream popularity. In turn that reboot spawned its own spinoffs, Caprica and the web series Blood and Chrome, but taking the story to the big screen has been a bit more of a challenge. That said, Lawrence was optimistic about the reboot, noting that the movie will have visual references to the original series and the reboot series while also being its own fresh take.

"Oh of course!" Lawrence said. "There will definitely be visual nods. We're all fans of both series so there will definitely be nods, but for it to be worth doing for us we have to have our own take on it. Without getting into too much detail, there is thematic kind of stuff to make it relevant today. What makes something interesting to do is if there's a relevance to the world we live in now."

That will be something that extends to the story -- which centers around the conflict between humans and the artificial lifeforms, Cylon -- as well.

"I also think it has to be about more than the AI of it all, as well," he said. "That's an element, but I think we've found something else to say with it too, which I think is pretty cool."

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