Battlestar Galactica Reboot Producer Details Ambitious and Unconventional Release Strategy

Streaming services have changed the expectations of audiences when it comes to how we consume storylines, as a number of streamers debut an entire season’s worth of episodes all at once, as traditional TV networks typically only release one episode at a time. Battlestar Galactica is a beloved piece of sci-fi lore that is associated with tackling ambitious themes, with the upcoming reboot of the concept from Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail turning both narrative expectations and release expectations on their heads, as he detailed that the new project is considering an erratic release strategy that would experiment with non-linear storytelling.

“When I spoke to Peacock about it, and Mike Lesslie who’s an amazing writer – he’s the one who’s showrunning and writing the pilot – the one thing we got excited by is do we release an episode a week, [release all at once]?” Esmail shared with Collider. “For me, it was like, let’s get in there and tell the right story and it will tell us how many episodes. We may dump three episodes in a row because it’s a three-episode-long battle sequence that needs to be dropped in a row even though they’re three signifying chapters, and maybe each chapter is switching a point of view within that battle sequence. There may be a 20-minute episode that’s the backstory of one of the characters that gets dropped right after that.”

He added, “So we’re gonna really experiment with form on this one because Battlestar, again, given the rich mythology that’s in there already, we want to hit every nook and cranny and because of the format, because of Peacock and streaming – and they’ve been such great partners with us in trying to experiment – we want to get in the writers’ room and let the story tell us how it wants to be released.”

Many would argue that Netflix was a major player in changing the nature of the television landscape, as it helped popularize the idea of delivering audiences as many as 13 episodes from one season of a series all at once. While a number of other platforms have embraced a similar release strategy, certain programs still honor a weekly debut strategy, allowing the conversation around an exciting property to be extended over a longer period of time.

As if Esmail’s comments about the unconventional methods of releasing the series weren’t exciting enough, he also noted that the release of these episodes wouldn’t necessarily result in a definitive beginning or ending for the narrative, instead detailing how each installment would resemble the sprawling and expansive nature of the mythology.

“I can’t tell you the number of episodes, but it’s also kind of a little meaningless because I think we’re gonna look at it as sort of like a spider web where we can plot and point and say, ‘Well this isn’t chronologically after Episode One or Episode Two, it’s the backstory of someone, but let’s release that so audiences can check that out if they want or they can just jump into the battle sequence,’” Esmail detailed. “We’re really gonna experiment with form in that way, and again I think with a property like Battlestar it lends to that.”

Stay tuned for details on the future of the Battlestar Galactica reboot.

Do these remarks have you excited for the upcoming endeavor? Let us know in the comments below!