Battlestar Galactica Reboot Loses Writer

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The upcoming reboot of Battlestar Galactica on Peacock has lost its head writer, Michael Lesslie. Leslie is a writer and showrunner, and he has worked on a few successful dramas in the past. He previously wrote for and was showrunner on the AMC series The Little Drummer Girl, among other projects. This past experience initially made him a top choice for the new Battlestar Galactica series. However, other streamers also presented Leslie with opportunities.

The word “reboot” is perhaps a misnomer for this series, as NBC has repeatedly stated that the new Battlestar Galactica is not a reboot of the original show, but rather a continuation of previous Battlestar Galactica stories. Executive producer Sam Esmail has promised fans that the production would be creating “a new story within the mythology,” and until recently, writer Lesslie was set to create that new story.

As Deadline reports, Lesslie has officially left the Battlestar Galactica show on Peacock to instead work on Maddaddam at Hulu, a new drama based on the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name. Lesslie will be executive producing Maddaddam alongside Atwood, and thus had to step back from Battlestar Galactica, presumably due to time constraints. As of right now, it appears that Peacock may still be looking for a new showrunner to take Lesslie’s place.

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Currently, there are not many details as to how Lesslie’s departure will affect the structure of Battlestar Galactica. Though many script details may change, it’s safe to assume that the broad strokes of the story will remain the same. NBC has previously confirmed that this new series will take place in the same universe as the 2004 reboot of Battlestar Galactica on the Syfy channel, and this will likely remain the case despite the change in showrunners. Other elements, like character arcs and specific episode topics, could be changed drastically.

Fans of Lesslie’s previous work may be disappointed to hear about the writer’s departure from Battlestar Galactica but can find reassurance that he is moving on to another series that will hopefully be just as successful. Hulu has already had huge success adapting Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, so it makes sense for the streamer to return to her novels for more content. Battlestar Galactica is not expected to debut until 2022 at the earliest, so the series has a long way to go before fans will get to see what’s really going on in this new story.