In 2020, Michael Lesslie was announced as the writer and showrunner behind Peacock's upcoming Battlestar Galactica reboot. However, Lesslie has now signed on to write the pilot for a sci-fi series based on novels by Margaret Atwood and serves as its executive producer.
Lesslie's recent change of projects was announced by Deadline, which ventured that the creator will no longer have time to be a part of Peacock's intergalactic reboot. Instead, Lesslie will work on Hulu's upcoming Maddaddam -- a television adaptation of a trilogy of novels from Atwood that covers corrupt power, young love and sinister genetic-engineering.
Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail is the executive producer and main developer behind the upcoming series. Esmail shared in January 2021 that he sought out the "blessing" of 2004's Battlestar Galactica showrunner prior to starting to develop the project for Peacock. Esmail stated, "I spoke to him before I even took on the project to make sure that it's all kosher with him, because the last thing I want to do is step on his toes, and the one thing we both agreed on is that it won't be a reboot of what he did. Which I think we both wanted."
While Esmail didn't share too much about what would differ in his reboot, he did offer that it would expand beyond 2009's view, noting, "Look, it's a big universe, it's a big world, I want to respect the Ronald Moore Battlestar." However, Esmail did share that the show is open to having a flexible release schedule on Peacock, noting, "We're really gonna experiment with form in that way, and again I think with a property like Battlestar it lends to that."
1978's Battlestar Galactica ran for one season on ABC, which was later followed by a sequel series titles Galactica 1980. SyFy (then the Sci-Fi Channel) revived the concept with 2003 miniseries that spurred 2004's cult classic reboot series developed by Moore. 2004's Battlestar Galactica ran for four seasons, spawning video games, board games and gained a massive cult following.
At the time of this writing, there is no announced date for when Esmail's Battlestar Galactica project will stream on the platform. Also, there hasn't been any casting announcements, nor coverage of who will replace Lesslie to helm the Cylon series. A separate Battlestar Galactica feature film is also in the works, with Simon Kinberg penning the script.
Source: Deadline
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