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John Orloff Penning Bryan Singer’s ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Film

Aw frak. Deadline is reporting that Bryan Singer’s (X-Men, Valkyrie) Battlestar Galactica project is beginning to pick up major steam, hiring John Orloff (Anonymous, Band of Brothers) to pen the screenplay for the project. For those of you not aware (and thus, do not understand what “frak” means), “Galactica” was a 1978 TV series that started out with humanity—spread across 12 planets—being attacked by the Cylons, intelligent robots created by humans that eventually rebelled. With their worlds decimated, it was up to the Galactica, humanity's last know warship, to protect the remaining civilization from the pursuing Cylons.
 
The show was cancelled after only one season (citing ratings and budget concerns), but retained enough of a following for SyFy to create a three hour miniseries/back door pilot in 2003 that was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback. In 2004, the “re-imagined” Battlestar Galactica debuted and lasted until 2009, garnering a greater cult following and is one of the few (if not the only) sci-fi show to be given the Peabody Award—television and radio’s highest honor. Singer, a self-professed fan of both the ’78 and re-imagined series was initially scheduled to direct the 2003 miniseries but dropped out soon after. He’s been going on and on in Hollywood for the better part of a decade in his hopes of making a film adaptation of the ’78 series. Now he has another rabid fan in Orloff—who tells Deadline “I love BSG, and I would pass on the job rather than frak it up.” In that sentence alone, he proves his devotion.

Universal Pictures (who have held the rights since the re-imagined series) will be bankrolling this little venture, so don’t get your hopes up just yet. Whether it is a TV series or a film, BSG will always cost money and Universal has a habit of stopping projects for “budgetary concerns.” Still, this little number has enough fans both in and out of Hollywood to warrant throwing some muscle behind it.

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