That version of Simonds' project will now be sold to other platforms by the studio, Peacock's NBCUniversal sister company UCP.
The latest incarnation, a new take on the classic series (pictured), is being produced by Simonds, Sam Esmail Corp. and Chad Hamilton. The studio is UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group.
Battlestar Galactica is a passion project for Mr. Robot creator Esmail, who is a big fan of the original.
"We're working on it," Esmail said in October. "And in fact, I just read a great draft and it's in great shape. Now that the strike is over — at least the WGA strike is over — we're back in development."
This is the second major science fiction project Esmail has tried to revive at UCP, following Metropolis, which was in pre-production as a series for Apple TV+ when UCP pulled the plug during the WGA strike.
The original Battlestar Galactica (1978) centered around the last group of humans on the brink of extinction after a series of wars with a robot race called the Cylons destroyed the Twelve Colonies. All humans are left in a single remaining group of battleships, anchored by Galactica, as they search for their last option for survival: a fabled Thirteenth Colony known as Earth.
The original Glen A. Larson-created series, produced by Universal and starring Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict and Lorne Greene, ran for one season on ABC in 1978-1979. The series was followed by a short-lived sequel and several book and comic book series, a board game, and a video game. It gained a cult following but was not a commercial success.
UCP (then known as Universal Cable Productions) produced Ron Moore's critically and commercially successful 2003 remake, which began as a miniseries before becoming a full series, starring Edward James Olmos as Greene's Commander, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackoff and Grace Park. It ran for four seasons and spawned a short-lived prequel series, Caprica.
