The reboot of Battlestar Galactica is one of Peacock’s big drama bets and the NBCU streamer’s originals chief says that the sci-fi drama is “progressing nicely.”
Bill McGoldrick, President of Original Content at NBCU Entertainment Networks and Direct-to-Consumer, told Deadline that the company is hot on the project, which is being led by Little Drummer Girl showrunner Michael Lesslie.
“I have seen an outline that we’re excited about,” he said.” “It’s obviously a big undertaking and we’re aware of the importance of that IP and we’re being pretty deliberate but it’s progressing nicely.”
McGoldrick admitted that Battlestar Galactica “comes with a great deal of responsibility” and “we want to do it great service”.
Deadline understands that Lesslie is currently writing the draft script and is expected to deliver that to McGoldrick and his team in the next couple of months. Then Lesslie is expected to put together a writers’ room for the big-budget drama, for which he is creating a new, imagined world.
The new Battlestar Galactica comes from Mr Robot and Homecoming exec producer Sam Esmail, who struck a big overall deal with NBCU’s Universal Content Productions last year. It is produced by Esmail Corp and UCP, with Esmail and Chad Hamilton also exec producing.
NBCUni’s Universal produced the original Glen A. Larson-created Battlestar Galactica series for ABC. UCP, then known as Universal Cable Productions, produced the successful Ronald D. Moore revamp that ran from 2004-2009 on the then-Sci-Fi Channel.
The original Battlestar Galactica centered on the last group of humans on the verge of extinction after a series of wars with a robot race, The Cylons, destroyed the Twelve Colonies. All the humans are left in one remaining battleship group, anchored by the Galactica, as they search for their last option for survival: a fabled Thirteenth Colony known as Earth.
Lesslie, who is also writing a contemporary screenplay of Hamlet for Riz Ahmed to star in, for Netflix, is a big fan of Battlestar Galactica, which ran for one season in ABC in 1978 and was resuscitated by Ron Moore in 2003.
