Battlestar Galactica Peacock Reboot Series Finds Its Writer

Peacock’s upcoming Battlestar Galactica has found its writer. Michael Leslie, who wrote the Assassin’s Creed movie and who is the showrunner of AMC’s The Little Drummer Girl, will create, write, and executive produce the new Battlestar Galactica, according to Deadline. Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail will executive produce the series through his overall deal with NBCUniversal‘s Universal Content Productions. The show will be produced by UCP and Esmail Corp, with Chad Hamilton also serving as executive producer. Esmail has said that the series is not a traditional reboot, but a new story building on the mythology established by Ronald D. Moore’s hit reboot of the franchise on Syfy in the early 2000s. In 2019, ComicBook.com asked Moore how he felt about the new series.

“It’s really up to them and I wish them well,” Moore said. “And I’m glad that they’re not literally rebooting the show. It would be hard to see someone else playing Laura Roslin and Adama at this point in time. It’s a great concept and certainly, it was great for me when I got the chance to step in and redo it 20 years after the fact. I’m happy to see someone keep expanding on the universe that we created. Sam Esmail has extraordinary talent and I wish him well.”

The original Battlestar Galactica debuted in 1978, created by Glen A. Larson. The series starred Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch, and Dirk Benedict and ran for a single season. In 1980, a fan campaign saw the show revived for 10 episodes as Galactica 1980. The series is credited with bringing the style of space opera made famous by Star Wars to the small screen for the first time.

The short-lived series was rebooted for a new generation by Moore, who launched his career writing for the Star Trek franchise in the 1990s. Moore wrote and produced a two-part miniseries for Syfy that debuted in 2003. The miniseries was a backdoor pilot that proved successful enough for Syfy to launch a full ongoing series from it in 2004. That series ran for four seasons and is still one of Syfy’s most successful original programs ever. The show’s cast included Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Tricia Helfer, and Grace Park. The show spawned single-season prequel, Caprica, and a web series spinoff, Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, which was later recut as a TV movie.

What do you think o NBCUniversal rebooting Battlestar Galactica? Let us know in the comments. Peacock is set to launch in April 2020.