Around two years ago, Universal Pictures hired The Hunger Games sequels and Red Sparro director Francis Lawrence to helm a big-screen version of the sci-fi mainstay Battlestar Galactica.
The series, first airing in 1978 and then remade in 2004 to much acclaim, chronicled the adventures of a convoy of hundreds of human vessels in search of a mythic planet called Earth, all while trying to escape the robotic race known as the Cylons whom they created and were now intent on wiping out humanity.
Bluegrass Films is producing the new take which again will reboot the property and Lawrence spoke with Coming Soon recently about where the project currently stands:
“I’m working on that, that’s something I’m developing. I’m working on that with Lisa Joy, who is one of the creators of “Westworld”. The original series was actually one of the first sets that I ever went on… I loved that show as a kid. I loved the Ron Moore show too.
There will definitely be visual nods [in the film]. We’re all fans of both series so there will definitely be nods, but for it to be worth doing for us we have to have our own take on it. Without getting into too much detail, there is thematic kind of stuff to make it relevant today.
What makes something interesting to do is if there’s a relevance to the world we live in now. I also think it has to be about more than the A.I. of it all, as well. That’s an element, but I think we’ve found something else to say with it too, which I think is pretty cool.”
Lawrence also confirmed that he is no longer attached to the Sgt. Rock film but his take before his left wasn’t a World War II-set film but rather a “near-future war film with World War II film tropes”. He started developing it, but then the studio pulled back to shift their focus to other DC properties.
Lawrence’s Red Sparrow is in cinemas this week.
