Bryan Singer to direct ‘Battlestar’ film

Los Angeles: Bryan Singer will direct and produce the big-screen version of ‘Battlestar Galactica.’The deal accelerates the development of "Galactica," for which Universal Pictures quietly picked up the movie rights in February from original show creator Glen A. Larson as the lauded Sci Fi series was wrapping up.

The deal also brings Singer ("The Usual Suspects," "X-Men," "Valkyrie") back to a project he was close to getting off the ground at the beginning of the decade. Singer and Tom DeSanto were developing with USA a pilot for Fox TV that was intended to be a sequel to the 1978 series, but those plans were shelved after the attacks of September 11. (The premise involved a human civilization on 12 planets decimated from an attack by intelligent robots known as Cylons. Survivors are led by the starship Galactica in their attempt to find a mythic 13th planet named Earth.) News of Singer`s possible involvement broke at Hitfix.com. The feature is now being developed in the shadow not only of the just-wrapped series, which was a serious exploration of the politics of war, religion, torture and destiny, but also of the upcoming spinoff, "Caprica," set a generation earlier. There is no script for the new "Galactica," though insiders have said the feature is to be a complete reimaginging and will stand separate from the series. Bureau Report