“Battlestar Galactica” will not chronicle its next chapter on Peacock. A planned reboot for the classic sci-fi hit is no longer in development at the streamer, an insider close to the decision-making told TheWrap.
The project had been in development since 2019, helmed by Sam Esmail (“Mr. Robot”). It was never officially picked up to series at Peacock, and though no plot details were revealed, the show was set to be set in the same timeline as the popular 2003 series.
The news comes months after “The Sinner” EP Derek Simonds was tapped to be writer, executive producer and showrunner. The reboot will now be shopped around to other outlets by its production company, UCP, with whom Esmail has an overall deal. The project was in development with UCP, Esmail Corp and Chad Hamilton.
“Battlestar Galactica” was first introduced in the ’70s as a single-season show starring Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict and Lorne Greene.
Ron Moore’s ’03 series was a grittier, more serious project that began as a miniseries on Syfy (then known as the Sci-Fi Channel). After being picked up to series, it ran from 2004-09. The series was set in a distant star system as humans battled evil android Cylons. The cast included Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, Tricia Helfer and Grace Park.
It was followed by the 2010 prequel spin-off series “Caprica,” which starred Alessandra Torresani, Eric Stoltz, Paula Malcomson and Esai Morales.
10 episodes of web series spin-off, “Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome,” were released in November 2012.
Esmail’s celebrated hacker drama “Mr. Robot” ran on USA from 2015-19, netting star Rami Malek an Emmy in 2016.
Most recently, Esmail directed and produced the 2023 Netflix disaster movie “Leave the World Behind,” which starred Mahershala Ali, Julia Roberts, Myha’la and Ethan Hawke. He is repped by CAA and McKuin Frankel Whitehead.
Variety first reported the news.
