Bryan Singer to Ruin…I Mean Helm Battlestar Galactica?

Just when you think it’s over, we are hit with some more Battlestar Galactica news. Hitfix.com reports that Bryan Singer has been approached to produce and possibly direct a big budget theatrical version of BSG. But will it be a continuation of the 70’s mini-series or the epic TV series that wowed us with its finale?

Bryan Singer was previously connected to BSG prior to the new series ever premiering. Singer, with Tom De Santo, had worked up a treatment involving the Cylon invasion, but this project was shelved after 9/11 due to fears that the imagery of the invasion might be capitalizing on the tragic events and visuals. Both Singer and De Santo moved on to work on other projects, while Ron Moore and David Eick went forward with their celebrated vision of BSG.

So if Singer is now attached again to the cult hit, where does the movie stand compared to the other incarnations? It seems a little ridiculous to continue the current story from the series when several projects ("Caprica") already underway are doing that already. Not to mention I don’t believe a significant amount of time has passed to introduce the characters and story onto the big screen.

Singer’s earlier involvement gave us some concept art based off of the 70’s TV mini-series, which actually looks pretty cool, and very true to the classic BSG. This makes it seem more likely it would be a continuation or even a reboot of the classic story of Battlestar Galactica, even though he developed the earlier project with a different studio.

But hold on, whatever happened to the rumored Glen Larson produced Battlestar Galactica movie, which was going to be a totally new take on the story? Has that already been thrown to the fishes or is this the same project that Singer is moving in on? This could possibly mean collaboration between Singer, Larson, and maybe even De Santo to bring a completely new vision of the BSG saga to the world. While I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of Singer’s after “Superman Returns”, “The Usual Suspects” is still one of my favorite films, so you can’t argue that he knows how to make a movie work. Can he handle the over the top visuals and sci-fi magic that is BSG? Or will it turn into two boring hours that destroy the future of the Battlestar Galactica franchise? I can’t answer that, but maybe you can. Let us know what you think. Should we leave Battlestar Galactica alone, or let Singer have his way with it?

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