Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series heading to DVD and Blu-Ray

Great news for Battlestar Galactica fans (although it is a little out of my price range). Not sure on the packaging for the complete series though. Surely they could have done something better.

Universal Home Video has announced DVD ($49.98) and Blu-ray ($69.98) releases of Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5 for the 28th July. Each will include commentaries by Ronald D. Moore, David Eick, and Edward James Olmos, Ronald D. Moore’s Podcast Commentaries, David Eick’s Video Blogs, deleted scenes, and featurettes ("Evolution of a Cue", "The Journey Ends: The Arrival", "So Say We All", "Manifesto Destiny", "Battle-Style Galactica", "Martyr To A Cause", "The Sins of The Forgiven", "Battlestar Revelations"). The Blu-ray release will also include additional U-Control and BD-Live functions.

Also available from the 28th July will be DVD ($279.98) and Blu-ray ($349.98) releases of Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series. The ambitious 20-disc Blu-ray™ Hi-Def set and a 25-disc standard DVD set contains every episode of television’s most original, thought-provoking series, together with extensive bonus materials delving deep into the richly imagined world of the hit SCI FI Channel original show.

Source: DVD Active

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The Thing prequel's Ronald Moore written script is binned. Elm Street reboot scribe is doing the rewrite

John Carpenter's The Thing is a true classic. Great story, great effects and just chock full of greatness. One of my favourite films of all time. Then there is the Battlestar Galactica reboot by Ronald D Moore. That was a brilliant reimagination of a camp 70s show. The new version was dark, deep and cool.

Put the two together and that is potential cinema gold. That was what was happening. Moore had written the script for a prequel to JCs The Thing. However, Hollywood being Hollywood this looks as if it has all changed.

Filmstalker and Bloody Disgusting have posted the news that the script was heading for a rewrite by Eric Heisserer. He is the chap who has written the script for the Nightmare on Elm Street reboot.

Now Heisserer has confirmed this on his own blog:

Yes, Matthijs and I are hard at work with the very smart team at Strike on
the prequel. We are all so much in love with Carpenter’s film, so protective of
it, we’re doing all we can to avoid stepping on its toes. I jumped at this job
because I hold the Carpenter adaptation to very high standards, and I knew it
would be a challenge to create a comparable companion piece. Sort of a “Nobody
better screw this up, especially me” mentality. Lucky for me, the people at
Strike and the director have the same standards.

This is a “from scratch” rewrite assignment for the most part, as was
my work on A Nightmare on Elm Street. I can’t say any more on that. I have the
highest respect for both Ron Moore and Wesley Strick.

I'm not sure what to make of this news. I was really excited to hear that Moore had turned in his script for the prequel (all about what happened at the Norwegian camp). I enjoyed BSG so thought he was the right man for the job. Now this "from scratch" rewrite comes out of nowhere. I can't really comment on Hesserer's work so I have no idea whether he will be good or bad. Glad that he says he wants to avoid stepping on any toes.

The fact that the studio has asked for the rewrite does worry me though. Unless the script is an absolute stinker the trend for studio's doing this is usually when the script is intelligent, cool and breaks the mold. Studio gets scared and asks for a rewrite to make it into a generic sci-fi slasher kind of deal.

That is just my opinion of course. What do you think about the rewrite news? What does this mean for the film?

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The excellent image above is from the Guinea Pig Theatre.

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Caprica - Some clips from the Battlestar Galactica prequel

Now that Battlestar Galactica is over the attention is now on the prequel series Caprica. Below is the series synopsis from the Sci-Fi Channel or Syfy, along with some clips from the show.

An astonishing breakthrough is taking shape on the planet Caprica. The rapidly evolving spheres of human and mechanical engineering have collided, along with the fates of two families. Joined by tragedy in an explosive instant of terror, two rival clans led by powerful patriarchs, Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) and Daniel Greystone (Eric Stoltz) duel in an era of questionable ethics, corporate machinations and unbridled personal ambition as the final war for humanity looms. The latest phenomenon from the executive producers of Battlestar Galactica (Ronald D. Moore and David Eick), set in a time over 50 years earlier, Caprica is entirely its own world - provocative, thrilling and startling relevant to our own.

Having watched the clips do you feel this will be a worthy replacement for Battlestar Galactica?

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What did you think of Battlestar Galactica's finale?

Ronald D Moore's sci-fi series, Battlestar Galactica ended this weekend. Did you watch it? Did you enjoy it? Did you think it sucked? Did it make sense? Have you got a better idea for how it should have ended?

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Ronald Moore talks about The Thing

SCI FI Wire have a brief interview with Ronald D Moore (Battlestar Galactica) about how work is going on his script for the prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing.

Where are things at with The Thing?

Moore: I was working on The Thing. I finished. I did my last draft a few weeks ago and turned it in. They [Universal Pictures] seem happy. They have a director [Matthijs Van Heijningen] assigned, and we'll wait to see when and if they green-light it.

What was your goal with this new version?

Moore: Well, the idea was to make a companion piece to Carpenter's. I started on the project with the feeling that Carpenter's version is just an amazing piece of work. It's a great film, and we really wanted to honor that version.

And so you've gone the prequel route?

Moore: We wanted a piece that would link up to [the Carpenter film] and not supplant it. So we didn't try to sort of completely reinvent what it was. We wanted a movie that would sort of live alongside it.

Going from that it doesn't actually tell us much more than we already knew. However, it is good to know that a script has been written and, more importantly, it isn't going to mess up the or play with the story from John Carpenter's film.

Sounds as if Moore has a lot of respect for the original (or remake of the original The Thing from Another Planet). I'm wary and excited about the whole thing as I do love John Carpenter's The Thing.

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Battlestar Galactica to be moviefied...the original BSG that is

IGN Movies has the newsthat Universal Pictures is planning to turn Battlestar Galactica into a feature film.

Now this isn't going to be the excellent Sci-Fi Channel reboot with its Replicant style Cylons and cool looking Centurions. Nope the plan is to make a film based on the original 1970's series. You know the one. Dirk Benedict as Apollo, the irritating kid, the man in the dog suit and the portly Centurions!

IGN state that "a Universal spokesperson refused to comment on rumored projects before ultimately denying it; we were later able to confirm our scoop independently. (This studio denial was reminiscent of Sony's dismissive response to our scoop about Jaden Smith starring in a Karate Kid remake, which we broke a YEAR before the project was officially announced.)"

Now if this is true why on the 13 Colonies would they go back to the old school version when the Ronald D Moore version has been so popular and cool. True the new one is coming to a definite end soon so they cannot spin it out onto the big screen, but still why take a step back on this?

I have five words MAN..IN..A..DOG..SUIT! The defence rests.

Would you want to see an updated version on the big screen that doesn't have Edward James Olmos as Adama?

Remember all this has happened before and will happen again!

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The Thing - Ron Moore to write the prequel

First Showing have this brilliant piece of news.

In 1982, John Carpenter released The Thing, the second film to be spawned from John W. Campbell Jr.'s short story "Who Goes There." Universal has officially announced today that Ronald D. Moore, the mastermind behind such groundbreaking shows as "Carnivale" and "Battlestar Galactica," will pen the script for the prequel which focuses on a Norwegian camp overrun by shape-shifting aliens. The film has commercial director Matthijs Van Heijningen attached to direct.

You can read the full text of Campbell's original short story right here.

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