Posted in: Peacock, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: battlestar galactica, peacock, preview, sam esmail

Battlestar Galactica: Peacock Series Taps Derek Simonds as Showrunner

Derek Simonds has been tapped to write, executive-produce, and serve as showrunner on Peacock & Sam Esmail's Battlestar Galactica.

The last time we checked in with Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot, Homecoming) to see how things were looking with his upcoming take on the Battlestar Galactica franchise for Peacock, Esmail was explaining why he wanted the "cream of the crop" to run the series, and how AI will be one of the factors that will play a role in their storytelling. "We have a great outline, and we're probably going to go to pilot soon," Esmail shared. Now, a little more than a month later and less than a week into the new year, Deadline Hollywood is reporting exclusively that Derek Simonds (Creator, The Sinner) has been tapped to write, executive-produce, and serve as showrunner.

Battlestar Galactica: Sam Esmail Offers Insights

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter while promoting his Netflix film Leave the World Behind back at the end of November, Esmail offered an update on where things stand, explained why he wants the "cream of the crop" to run the series, and how AI will be one of the factors that will play a role in their storytelling. "We have a great outline, and we're probably going to go to pilot soon," Esmail shared, which was definitely some unexpected good news.

Why Esmail Isn't Running the Series: "Because I know myself as a filmmaker, and I don't know if hard sci-fi is something I'm going to be the A-plus person to pull off. And Battlestar needs the cream of the crop. But I love the world and what Ron Moore did with the [2004 version] — how it was such an allegory for what we were going through at the time of 9/11. I knew that if we bring in the right partners to write and film the show, I could be on that other end as a person of guidance to say, 'OK, I think this is working; it's the same magic I felt watching the Ron Moore version.'"

Esmail: "Battlestar Galactica" Needs to Match Audience's Growing Tech Sophistication: "The world is changing way too fast for us. I mean, when we started working on it, I obviously was aware of AI, but now, four or five years later, it's in the public consciousness, and now that's so influential in how we're going to tell the story. The allegory piece is something that is crystallized in a different way, too. The focus is the same, which is the fear of tech and how it might take over, but this idea of just 'the robots are going to be our overlords' is a very facile and overly simplistic way of looking at it. Now that the audience is more sophisticated about the consequences, I think we have to match that with 'Battlestar.'"

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!