New Battlestar Galactica series, about the Cylon War coming!

[prophecy girl]

Syfy is working on a new Battlestar Galactica series that will follow the exploits William "Husker" Adama during the Cylon War. According to the Chicago Tribune, the show is called "Blood and Chrome" and will be an online series with about 10 episodes, each around 9 minutes long.

According to Mark Stern, Syfy's executive vice president of original programming and the co-head of original content for Universal Cable Productions, "Battlestar Galactica" and "Caprica" co-executive producer Michael Taylor will write the the script for the new venture.

"Blood & Chrome" is "about a young man's initiation into war: both the realities of war as fought by soldiers on the ground (and in Battlestars and Vipers), and the somewhat less real version portrayed in the media," according to Taylor.

"Blood & Chrome" would consist of nine or 10 episodes of nine or 10 minutes each, and it would make use of cutting-edge digital technology and special effects to depict the Cylon War. If it is greenlit to production, it will be filmed using green screens and virtual sets, not unlike Syfy's "Sanctuary" or James Cameron's "Avatar." Before "Battlestar Galactica" ended, high-tech scans were made of all the show's sets, so that the special-effects team will be able to re-create them (possibly even in 3D).


Taylor revealed some other details to the Tribune:

"I've seen the virtual, 3D version of CIC ['Battlestar's' Combat Information Center] and it's pretty damn cool," Taylor said. "And yet the movie isn't confined to Galactica. Far from it. It's a story that will take us to new corners of the 'Battlestar' world (or worlds), and yet it aims to be a very contemporary war movie in a lot of ways. I would say I'm thinking as much of Afghanistan and Iraq--the reality of 'Hurt Locker,' Sebastian Junger's 'Restrepo,' and similar movies--as I am about about the largely implied past of 'Battlestar.'"

If the series is successful, more could follow.

(SyFy)

[little pixie]

[prophecy girl]

We saw how the Battlestar Galactica saga ended, and now with Caprica, we're seeing how it began. But what about that part in the middle, when Cmdr. William Adama was only a rookie Viper pilot during the first Cylon war? Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, a new two-hour pilot from Syfy, is about to take us there.

Here's Syfy's official press release:

SYFY GREENLIGHTS BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: BLOOD & CHROME 2-Hour Pilot Chronicles Young William Adama's Adventures in First Cylon War

New York, NY - October 22, 2010 - Syfy is readying an exciting all-new chapter in the Battlestar Galactica saga with a greenlight for Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome from Executive Producer David Eick, it was announced today by Mark Stern, Executive Vice President of Original Programming, Syfy and Co-Head of Content for Universal Cable Productions. Universal Cable Productions will produce the 2-hour pilot with Syfy utilizing cutting edge CGI and virtual technology.

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome takes place in the 10th year of the first Cylon war. As the battle between humans and their creation, a sentient robotic race, rages across the 12 colonial worlds, a brash rookie viper pilot enters the fray. Ensign William Adama, barely in his 20's and a recent Academy graduate, finds himself assigned to the newest battlestar in the Colonial fleet... the Galactica. The talented but hot-headed risk-taker soon finds himself leading a dangerous top secret mission that, if successful, will turn the tide of the decade long war in favor of the desperate fleet.

"The 'Galactica' universe as re-imagined by Ron Moore and David Eick is rich with possibilities and backstory," said Mark Stern. "We jumped at the chance to revisit the William Adama character and explore this exciting chapter in the BSG narrative which falls between the events of the original series and the prequel, 'Caprica,' currently airing on Syfy."

"While maintaining the themes of politics, social propaganda, and the timeless question: what does it mean to be human? - 'Blood & Chrome' will also return us to the authentic, relentless depiction of combat and the agony and ecstasy of human-Cylon war, which was the hallmark of 'Battlestar Galactica's' early seasons," said David Eick.

Michael Taylor wrote the teleplay from a story by Eick, Taylor and Bradley Thompson & David Weddle.

[prophecy girl]

We've seen William Adama as an adult in Battlestar Galactica and as a kid in Caprica, so as soon as Syfy announced its new series BSG: Blood and Chrome, about Adama as a rookie Viper pilot during the first Cylon war, we wondered—who's got the chops to show us yet another side of this classic character?

James Hibberd of Inside TV got the exclusive that the role has gone to Luke Pasqualino, while the battle-weary officer to whom young Adama reports will be played by Ben Cotton.

Pasqualino is best known for his starring role in the U.K. TV series Skins, while Cotton will be a familiar face due to his roles in such series as Hellcats, Riese, Caprica, Stargate: Atlantis and Harper's Island.

Here are the official character descriptions:

Pasqualino will star as the young, talented fighter pilot William Adama, a recent Academy graduate who finds himself assigned to the newest Battlestar in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica. Full of ambition and in pursuit of the intense action that the Cylon war promises, Adama quickly finds himself at odds with Coker (Cotton), the battle-weary officer to whom he reports. With 45 days left in his tour of duty, Coker desires an end to battle just as much as Adama craves the start of it. Though they clash at first, the two men forge an unlikely bond when a routine mission turns dangerous and becomes a pivotal one for the desperate fleet.

(Blastr)

[prophecy girl]

SYFY'S BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: BLOOD & CHROME LAUNCHES
2-Hour Pilot Chronicles Young William Adama's Adventures in First Cylon War

Lili Bordan Joins Luke Pasqualino and Ben Cotton in the Cast


NEW YORK - February 10, 2011 - Production has begun in Vancouver on Syfy's highly anticipated 2-hour pilot, Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, the all-new chapter in the Battlestar Galactica saga. Universal Cable Productions will produce the event with Syfy utilizing cutting edge CGI and virtual technology.

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome takes place in the 10th year of the first Cylon war. As the battle between humans and their creation, the sentient robotic Cylons, rages across the 12 colonial worlds, a young, talented fighter pilot, William Adama (Luke Pasqualino), finds himself assigned to one of the most powerful Battlestars in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica. Full of ambition and in pursuit of the intense action that the Cylon war promises, Adama quickly find himself at odds with Coker (Ben Cotton), the battle-weary officer to whom he reports. With 47 days left in his tour of duty, Coker desires an end to battle just as much as Adama craves the start of it. Though they clash at first, the two men forge an unlikely bond when a routine mission turns dangerous and becomes a pivotal one for the desperate fleet.

Joining Pasqualino and Cotton in the cast is Lili Bordan, who will play Dr. Beka Kelly, a Ph.D. who worked for Graystone Industries that created the Cylon robots. Currently assigned to a secret military mission, Beka and Adama quickly establish a rapport.

From the award-winning producers of Battlestar Galactica, this new action-packed chapter of the BSG canon was written by Michael Taylor form a story by David Eick, Taylor and Bradley Thompson & David Weddle and directed by Jonas Pate. David Eick, Jonas Pate and Michael Taylor will serve as executive producers.

(SyFy)

[prophecy girl]

Ilana Rein decided she wanted to figure out what made Battlestar Galactica fans tick, so she sunk $8,000 of her own money into producing the documentary We Are All Cylons.

To make the indie doc involved more than just interviewing the show's fans and creators. She also got so into it that she had to imagine herself a Cylon to pull it off. Rein told Wired that "part of my creative process was to begin thinking of myself as part Cylon. A lot of the edits I made were what I imagined a computer would do."

The film premiered yesterday at the Sci-Fi-London film festival, and based on the trailer, we can't wait for We Are All Cylons to play elsewhere so we can find out what she uncovered about BSG fandom.


We do have one quibble, though. Prior to the film's debut, the director said:

"I know a few very serious Star Trek fans but I have never noticed a gleam in their eyes the way I do when I speak to BSG fans"

All we can say is—Rein obviously hasn't hung out at enough Star Trek cons, because that Star Trek gleam exists. We've seen it

(Vimeo)



preview

[prophecy girl]

If you, like us, have been waiting with trepidation to see Bryan Singer's take on John Boorman's epic Arthurian movie Excalibur, you can stop waiting, because the planned remake is—to put it mildly—dead in the water.

Singer had announced about two years ago that he would tackle a remake of Excalibur (1981), a film that many fans still consider to be, to this day, the definitive King Arthur movie.

While Singer was attending the annual Sitges Film Festival, the director spoke to SFX about how the deal has fallen through:

"Yeah, unfortunately it is no longer going to happen," he says. "I was really enthused to do it. I'm a fan of John Boorman's movie and it was my intention to get it going after Jack The Giant Killer was completed. The project was with Warner Bros and what happened is that another King Arthur project was brought to them during that time. Basically, it was just more ready to go into production than ours was. That is why our version of Excalibur ended up being negated. But, when that happened, it allowed me to go straight into developing Battlestar Galactica - which I think will be really exciting."
While we're a bit bummed out we won't get to see a new version of Excalibur (though the film's an absolute favorite of ours, it would have been cool to see an updated version—if done right, of course—since it hasn't aged as well as we'd hoped), we're quite excited about the fact that Singer is moving ahead with his reboot of Battlestar Galactica.

Singer's version will have nothing to do with Ron D. Moore's recent successful take on the classic sci-fi series, but will rather be a re-imagining of Glen Larson's 1978 original series, with Larson on board as a producer.

So what do you guys think? Are you disappointed that Warner Bros. has shelved Singer's planned Excalibur remake? Are you thrilled that the director's still going ahead with his own take on Battlestar Galactica? Do you think Bryan Singer can come up with even cooler Cylons than the recent series? But, most importantly, will Starbuck be back to being A MAN?

(SyFy)

[little pixie]

Blood and Chrome cancelled ?

Trailer - watch it while you can.

[prophecy girl]

link (trailer still available )