Bryan Singer boarding ‘Battlestar Galactica’ for Universal?

ScreenRant.com – Drew McWeeny at HitFix has the exclusive on some very interesting developments on the Universal Pictures feature film adaptation of Battlestar Galactica.

The amazing television series brought to us by Ron Moore and David Eick gave fans new and old, a more realistic take on the classic series from the late seventies. Their show stood strong to complete its story on their own schedule, and after four full seasons, they’re now in the midst of launching the spinoff series, Caprica, that has already had its pilot released on DVD.

According to Drew, his sources have informed him that Bryan Singer (X-Men, Superman Returns, The Usual Suspects) is being brought in by Universal to produce the project. It’s possible he’ll be directing the film but there’s no word on that yet.

For those who don’t know, Bryan Singer and Tom De Santo actually had a plan for a new Battlestar Galactica television series years ago that would have been set up as a sequel of sorts, based 20 years after the classic series. That project was canned as the terrible events of 9/11 unfolded due to the introduction of the storyline being based on an all-our surprise attack, not a good idea around that time period.

Sadly, a lot of work was put into that and a bunch of CG animation had been worked on as they were only months away from shooting when they had to stop. The story of Singer’s series would follow the human survivors as they live on a colony after voting to abandon their search for Earth.

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Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5 Blu-ray

Back in February, we first learned that Universal’s new movie would be taking us back to the original Battlestar Galatica series and would still have the key characters of Adama, Starbuck and Baltar in it. They’d just have nothing to do with the Moore’s recent incarnation which is still pushing forward with a movie titled The Plan on its way as well as the Caprica series mentioned above.

We also learned at that time that creator and writer, Glen A. Larson, was in negotiations with Universal to work on a new BSG feature film.

So, are Larson and Singer working together on this and will it follow the original series, new series or be an entirely new take?

Since most mainstream audiences aren’t aware of the history of the Cylons, and since we know it’ll be separate from Ronald D. Moore’s vision, it would have to be an origin films of sorts and yet another different take on the franchise as we know it.

A concern for me is the story and how it could be told in two hours. There’s so much more to it than that and it’d be have to structured as a franchise set of films, likely as a trilogy.

If someone’s got to be chosen for this, Singer is the right choice. He has the sci-fi/fantasy roots with his Superhero film background, he’s a big name in the industry, and he already has worked on Battlestar Galactica before.

Amazon Specials!

Secrets Stashed in Sy Fy’s Warehouse 13

Kate O’Hare – The Oklahoman

On Tuesday, a popular cable network gets a new name and opens the door to a passel of mysterious artifacts and enigmatic relics.

With the two-hour premiere of “Warehouse 13,” SCI FI Channel becomes SYFY and shakes up its on-screen image, hoping to expand its audience even further beyond science-fiction fans.

“Warehouse 13” focuses on two Secret Service agents — Peter Lattimer and Myka Bering (Eddie McClintock, Joanne Kelly) — who save the life of the president and wind up transferred to a facility called Warehouse 13.

Located in South Dakota, the top-secret bunker houses a collection of bizarre objects, all under the care of Secret Service agent Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubinek), who answers to Mrs. Frederic (CCH Pounder).

“Everybody is a closet conspiracist,” says Jack Kenny, who executive produces with David Simkins. “We all want to think, ‘Oooh, there is all this stuff going on that we don’t know about.’

“And there probably is a bunch of stuff we don’t know about and probably don’t want to know about. We like the idea that there’s a warehouse out there that houses everything the government doesn’t know what to do with but needs to safeguard and protect.”

He also emphasizes that we’re not talking about alien bodies from Roswell or anything of that sort.

“We don’t want to go into alien stuff because it stretches the point of believability,” Kenny says. “Every one of these artifacts, we want to be absolutely viable.”

“The artifacts come from history,” Simkins says. “They come from science. They come from strong-willed individuals (like) Lucrezia Borgia. All the artifacts are based in reality.

“You could go to Wikipedia or Google and look this stuff up.”

Luckily for science-fiction fans, while the artifacts may not be from outer space, a few guest stars have worked there.

Among them are Tricia Helfer and Michael Hogan from “Battlestar Galactica” and Joe Flanigan from “Stargate Atlantis.” Others include Ivan Sergei (“Charmed”) James Naughton (“Gossip Girl”) and Erica Cerra (“Eureka”).

The show also promises a sense of humor. For example, there’s the purple goo.

“We get purple goo squirted all over us,” McClintock says. “The purple goo is a big story point. When we put an artifact into the purple neutralizer, it takes all its power away and makes it easier to transport.” 

The Special Effects Crew

Michael Innanen (Max Payne, The Incredible Hulk, Jumper) is the special effects supervisor

Laird McMurray (The Incredible Hulk, Dawn of the Dead, Cinderella Man) is the special effects coordinator

Shane Million (Assault on Precinct 13, Dawn of the Dead, Man of the Year) is the key special effects artist

Marcus Rait (X-Men, 16 Blocks, Chicago) is the special effects foreman