Blood and Chrome trailer

Blood and Chrome, the much anticipated prequel to the highly successful series Battlestar Galactica, is still stuck wandering the galaxy in search of home. Deadline reports that Syfy has scrapped the idea for the series and, unless things change, plans to air the already-filmed 90-minute pilot as a movie on the Syfy Channel and to continue the story as a web series. The story follows a young Commander Adama during his viper pilot days as ‘Husker’ during the first Cylon war. Sounds like a winner to me- and the trailer looks to promise everything that Caprica could not deliver. Let’s hope we get to see it before Cylons take over our planet.

It stars Luke Pasqualino, Ben Cotton, and Lili Bordán. Michael Taylor wrote the teleplay from a story by Taylor, David Eick, Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, with Jonas Pate set to direct

NBC yanked the Youtube post but you can view the trailer at BUZZFEED

A new Battlestar Galactica by Brian Singer

From SlashFilm.com
Update by Editor Peter Sciretta: Entertainment Weekly has confirmed this report with Universal Pictures — Bryan Singer is signed on to direct a feature film version of Battlestar Galactica, which isn’t expected to be a continuation of the most recent Ron Moore Sci-Fi channel television show, but instead a complete re-imagining of the original 1970’s series. Original report follows below.

According to HitFix, Universal appear to be on the verge of engaging Bryan Singer to produce and also maybe direct a new Battlestar Galactica feature film. Quite a surprise, huh?

You may recall that before the Ron Moore TV series of recent years, Singer was working on a pilot for a reboot of the show himself (some Cylon concept art from their efforts is at the head of this post). That one was halted by in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001 after the Sci-Fi network became sensitive to similarities between the planned plot and real-life tragedy. Would Singer be looking to return to a similar storyline here? I think we can be pretty certain his film won’t be in any way tied into the recent series.

McWeeny is rather skeptical that Singer would sign up to direct a film based upon a premise still so fresh in the public consciousness, but I’m not so doubtful, personally. Would Universal really be the driving force here? I’d expect a conservative cautious studio to take some convincing that there was money here. Or maybe they just want some of that Star Trek dollar?

Read entire article here.

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

(*No spoilers*)
The BabbleOn 5 crew have been devoted fans of the recent Battlestar Galactica series produced by the Syfy Channel. We consider BSG to be one of the finest series ever produced by Syfy- which is saying very little. But even by network or cable standards, Battlestar ranks easily among the best (we considered calling ourselves Babblestar!).  The dramatic series ended after a self-appointed 4 year run much to the regret of its fans. Producer Ron Moore wanted to end the series on their terms- I can respect that. To help with the bereavement, the makers created a couple of 2 hour specials to tie up loose ends in Caprica and The Plan. We all watched The Plan the other night so I wanted to share my thoughts on it for other BSG fans out there.

• The goal of this special was to show what the cylons were attempting to do behind the scenes- what worked for them and what plans did not.
• It starts with the original mini-series and jumps around throughout the run of the show.
• The perspective and story is told from the’skin-job’ cyclons, primarily through Cavell played by Dean Stockwell.
• There is a lot of footage used from the original series with additional ‘before and after’ footage. This helps set up what and why certain events happened.
• Ultimately, there is a common thread that is revealed that explains how the cyclons plan was compromised that affected the outcome of the series.

Overall, I enjoyed this two-hour, sci-fi distraction. It brought an interesting perspective about the happenings on board the Galactica and helped fill in some unknown information. I wouldn’t say it brought startling revelations but some interesting twists. The Plan would ONLY appeal to hardcore BSG fans. If you have not seen the series then you would not like this movie. An after being off the air for a year, I would also say it was hard to remember a lot of the series details. So this might have been better served to be watched right after a fresh viewing of the 4 seasons. If anything, it just reminded me of how much I missed the series and how I wished it was still on. So for moderate to novice fan I would pass on this ‘fill in the blank’ back story tale. However, the BSG fans still in denial, check it out and re-live the dream….’so say we all!’

I give it a 3.5 Babbles out of 5

Great Frakkin’ lessons

As I watched the finale of one the greatest shows in history, I pondered how Battlestar Galactica (or BSG) can teach lessons on creative leadership. Here are a few of my musings:

• Story is everything. No amount of fun, action, sex, flash, or bangs can replace a good story. Lesson learned: Be a master story teller.
• There are no true heroes or villains. Everyone has a good side and a dark side so you shouldn’t be surprised when you see both. Lesson learned: People are shades of grey.
• The solution to any crisis is not strength, luck, nor manipulation- it’s leadership. Creative leaders turn obstacles into opportunities. Lesson learned: Leadership matters.
• People are their worst enemy. Persons are smart, people are dumb. Follow the crowd and they will lead you into destruction. Lesson learned: Lead the masses before they lead you.
• There are no atheists in fox holes. Crisis and terror creates spiritual moments and a need for a higher power. I think this is by design. Lesson learned: Rely on a higher power BEFORE you need it.
• The mighty and powerful do not always win. So if you choose sides, don’t always go with who has the biggest guns. Lesson learned: Don’t play the odds.
• Sex sells. Regardless of time, culture, or people, too many leaders are compromised by the allure of sex. Lesson learned: Be in control before you get controlled.
• Finally, it’s hard to create momentum from nothing. It’s easier to gather friends when it’s around a great TV show. Lesson learned: Use something good to create something great.

Not sure if we will ever experience a show that is good on so many levels like BSG. The four short seasons (and a few specials) has served to remind me of the potential of the medium of TV & great storytelling.

“So Say We All!”