Battlestar Galactica Reboot No Longer in Development at Peacock

A reboot of sci-fi show Battlestar Galactica is no longer in the works at Peacock after a five-year development period.

The reboot project was announced back in 2019 as part of Peacock‘s initial streaming lineup. It was supposedly set within the same continuity as the 2003 Battlestar Galactica series. It had never formally ordered to series in that time.

First reported by Variety, its sources believe executive producer Sam Esmail and studio UCP will market the project to other outlets.

At one point, it had a writer in the form of Michael Leslie, who came on in 2020 but reportedly left in 2021. Back in January of this year, Derek Simonds was reported to be attached as a writer, executive producer, and showrunner.

Battlestar Galactica has a mixed TV history

Battlestar Galactica has a bit of an up-and-down televisual history. The original 1978 series ran on ABC for just a single season. A subsequent attempt at a revival in the form of Galactica 1980 didn’t fare any better.

But in 2003, Ronald D. Moore and the Sci Fi Channel (Syfy) resurrected the series a whole lot more successfully. A three-hour miniseries starring Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, and Katee Sackhoff would lead to Syfy and Sky Television creating a fully-fledged show with that cast. It became one of the most celebrated sci-fi shows of all time in its four-season run. It also managed to fit in two TV movies before ending in 2009. Caprica, a prequel series, would follow. But it lasted just one season.

In the 2003 revival of Battlestar Galactica, a group of humans aboard a battleship are forced to abandon their planet after being attacked by the sentient robot race called Cylons. They try to evade the Cylons while searching for their true home, Earth.