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Battlestar Galactica Movie Will Likely Gender Swap Roles
An update on the long-awaited Battlestar Galactica movie reveals that it may gender swap some of the franchise’s key roles.
As a piece of sci-fi nostalgia, the original Battlestar Galactica TV show ran from for a single season in 1978, before getting several continuations and the popular noughties remake. A feature film based on Glen A. Larson’s world has been in the works since 2009, but recently took a big step by attaching impressive talent like Red Sparrow director Francis Lawrence and Westworld co-creator/showrunner Lisa Joy.
Little is known about where Lawrence will take humanity’s war with the Cylons, but don’t expect it to be a simple remake of the ’70s or ’00s shows. Although fan-favorite characters are expected to make an appearance, Lawrence was asked by Digital Spy if he might give them a gender swap just to mix things up a little:
“Yes absolutely 100 percent! I’m not going to give any details but 100% there’s room for that.”
Continuing about where his movie will fit into the lore of Battlestar Galactica, he confirmed that it will very much be its own beast outside what fans have seen before:
“Yes it’s a reimagining, it’s not a continuation of the series, it’s a standalone piece.”
Interestingly, Lawrence’s words echo what was already done on the reimagined series. Dirk Benedict’s Lieutenant Starbuck was changed to Katee Sackhoff’s no-nonsense version and dubbed one of television’s most complex characters to ever grace the screen. Gender-swapped roles seem to be a big thing right now, which can either work or come across as a cheap marketing ploy. You only have to look at the recent Heathers remake to see how gender swapping might not always work in a franchise’s favor.
Over the years, there have been several TV movies to spawn from Battlestar Galactica, but Lawrence and Joy’s project will mark the first big screen adaptation. With the reboot wrapping in 2009, there have since been several spin-offs, most recently with the poorly-received Caprica back in 2010. Instead of milking another TV series, it was decided that the Star Wars lookalike was finally ready for its own movie. In the dawning era of female-driven films like Wonder Woman and the aforementioned Red Sparrow, putting a woman at the head of Galactica might work in the franchise’s favor.
Considering that the Battlestar Galactica pilot from 1978 came in at an impressive $7 million – making it the most expensive most expensive episode ever produced at the time – you can only imagine that Universal will be shelling out some big bucks for its silver screen outing. Alongside sci-fi series like Lost in Space, Battlestar Galactica is just part of the ongoing trend of resurrecting forgotten shows for the 21st Century in the hopes of them finding new life. Given Lawrence’s work on The Hunger Games, here’s hoping that he can weave his movie magic on the Twelve Colonies and all who reside within them.
