Rumor: Battlestar Galactica coming to theaters

According to IGN, Battlestar Galactica may be heading to the big screen soon. Unfortunately, fans hoping to see the current Sci-Fi Channel re-imagined BSG in theaters will have to make do with the original series instead.

If the rumor is to be believed, Universal has negotiated with series’ creator Glen A. Larson to write and produce a big-screen adaptation of his original BSG series. The film will retell the original story and not be related to the current series. It is expected to include ol’ faves Adama, Starbuck, Baltar and Cylons.

The original Battlestar Galactica was the most expensive series of its time with only 17 episodes airing from 1978 to 1979. Fans, however, kept the series in syndication for the next three decades, ultimately resulting in the Sci-Fi Channel’s re-imagined Battlestar Galactica mini-series in 2003, which would later be adapted into the regular series we know and love today.

For those of you unfamiliar with the original 1978 series, or it’s less-than-stellar follow-up series, Galactica 1980, the original dealt with the near extinction of the human race at the hands of the Cylons, which humanity had built to serve them. The last battle cruiser space ship and pride of the fleet, the Galactica, sets off in search of a new home for the survivers of the Cylon holocaust for world called Earth.

The newer Sci-Fi Channel re-imagined series differs in many ways. Galactica is not the pride of the colonial fleet, or the most powerful ship but instead a rust bucket that was due for retirement at the onset of the 2003 mini-series. The newer series is also darker and leaner than the 1978 series, with a number of character changes and plot elements that the original would never have dared touch. However, the core themes have always remained intact.

For the millions of fans of the current BSG series, there will be two direct-to-Cable and DVD movies released this year (2009): Battlestar Galactica: Caprica >and Battlestar Galactica: The Plan.

Battlestar Galactica: Caprica, which is due to be released on DVD on April, 2009, is set fifty years before the events of the current series. The Caprica DVD movie will serve as the pilot for a new series which will begin airing early 2010.

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan is set to air June 2009, after the fourth and final season of the current BSG series. This Sci-Fi Channel movie will retell the events of the entire four-year run of Battlestar Galactica but seen entirely from the point of view of the Cylons.

Read [IGN] Read [Hollywood Reporter] Also Read [SciFi] Also Read [Gamertell]