n February 22, 2001, Studios USA dropped a bombshell of a news item that rocked the SF fan community like an earthquake. The conglomerate that also owns Universal Studios and the SCI FI Channel announced that it had struck a deal with director Bryan Singer and producer Tom DeSanto to develop a new Battlestar Galactica television series. For Galactica fans who have been very active in recent years and eager to resurrect the 1978 series, it was a surprise to discover that the filmmakers of last summer's mega-hit The X-Men were also hardcore Galactica fans.
To date, very few details have been revealed about the exact nature of this new Galactica vision. DeSanto and Singer are keeping the details close to their chests. According to Dan Pasternack, the Studios USA television executive who is overseeing the new project, "Bryan Singer's intent is to be very faithful to the spirit and legacy of the original show. I think his intent is creatively to go forward in time as the saga has continued in his mind." He also said that it was not likely that the new show would feature characters from the original series. But it would definitely have Cylons.
A few days after the studio's announcement, actor Richard Hatch, who starred in Battlestar Galactica as Apollo, posted on the Internet an open letter directed to all Galactica fans expressing his support to Bryan Singer and Tom DeSanto. In recent years, Richard Hatch has appointed himself as a cheerleader to resurrecting the Galactica property as either a feature or a television series. Under the umbrella of his production company, Shu-Shann Productions, he self-financed a Battlestar Galactica movie trailer titled "The Second Coming."
Two recent online polls reveal that Battlestar Galactica fans are advocating for the return of the original cast to television. In a Cinescape poll, 52%, or almost 4,700 people, voted in favor of Richard Hatch returning to the series. In a Sci-Fi Wire poll, 56% of 2,400 people also advocated for the original cast to be in the new series.
In this following interview with Science Fiction Weekly, Richard Hatch discusses in greater detail his thoughts and feelings about the past, present and future of Battlestar Galactica.
When Studios USA announced its development deal with Bryan Singer and Tom DeSanto, it stunned a lot of people. No one saw this one coming. How did you learn the news?
Richard Hatch: Someone sent me an e-mail. I had been hearing rumors of the SCI FI Channel doing a Battlestar Galactica series without the original cast and without Galactica. We'd all heard this news before with Glen Larson and Todd Moyer [who wanted to do a feature project]. After you hear so many people coming forth and saying they want to do the project without the original cast, or story, you take everything with a grain of salt.
After it became clear that this might be a real deal, the first feeling was a little bit of sadness. It's painful to spend several years developing the property of the show and working to inspire the studios to do new Galactica projects and then they go ahead and do it with someone totally different.
It can be painful. But the pain was mitigated by the fact that Tom DeSanto and Bryan Singer were passionate fans of Battlestar. From what I read, they were not only interested in the show but had a lot of great ideas to honor the original story and premise. We don't know what that means. We heard different statements coming from USA Networks, who stated they weren't going to use the original cast, that they may not even be trying to find Earth, that they changed the mythology. It sounded from USA they wanted to remake it into something totally different, which is what most studios do with classics and remakes.
In the past we've seen many wonderful shows destroyed that we loved and saw brought back. Occasionally, it does work. It's hard enough to create a successful show, but it's even harder to bring back a classic. If you alienate the core audience and fans that supported the show for so many years, and change it so much that it's not recognizable, even if it succeeds, it's not the same show.
Have you talked with your fellow castmates? What are they saying?
Hatch: They're all a little curious and apprehensive. Most of them would love to do Battlestar again. That's up to the fans. The studios. I've always said that I believe that classics may be owned by the studios, but it belongs to the fans, the audience that supported that show for the past 20 years. In Battlestar's case, it's never been off the air, so new generations of fans have been introduced to the show by their parents, and fans range from very young to very old. Lovers of SF and of Battlestar have been waiting a long time to see their favorite characters and show again.
What are your feelings if it works out that none of the original cast are invited to participating in the new series?
Hatch: My feeling is that it would be a monumental mistake to do that. Other studios have done that with other remakes. As I said, even if the show is successful without the original cast in it, I don't think it would be the same Battlestar. A lot of fans would be disappointed. But that notwithstanding, you couldn't ask for two better people to be in charge of the series than Tom and Bryan. You have two extraordinarily passionate, talented and gifted filmmakers at the helm. I think they're going to give it their best shot at something exciting. Hopefully, they will find a way to build a bridge between the past and future and find a way for a win-win situation for the fans and the studio. I think it can be done.
How do you think that so-called "bridge" will manifest itself? How can they make the connection between the past and future?
Hatch: The bridge is always the people. The people and the story are all woven together. You can't separate them. It's the Battlestar, the people, the Cylons. It's the whole dynamic that made the story successful in the first place.
I think the bridge is that you can create any number of stories with Battlestar. The way that we discovered that worked was to build a bridge between the past and the future by adding a new generation born to us, who joins with us, the original generation [in new adventures]. What better way to introduce an audience to new characters than to use the original characters that everyone has bonded with? And then the audience will get to know the children through their parents. And then you add new technologies to the old ones. If you're going to do that, you won't lose the audience and then they'll be receptive to whatever else you want to do.
What kinds of feedback have you received from Galactica fans since the USA Studios announcement?
Hatch: We're getting tons of fan mail. Everyone is excited at having Tom and Bryan onboard. But at least half, if not more, are concerned and worried that the studios or the new producers will decide to do something totally different. They're afraid because of Galactica 1980. They don't want that to happen again.
Are there any meetings scheduled at this time between you and DeSanto/Singer?
Hatch: Not that I know of. My position is I respect their right to do their own research and explorations. Universal owns it, we don't. We've done our best to build a fan network all over the world. We've rallied the troops and have done everything in our power to bring back this show. Now, we can only wait to see what they will do and support them as best as we can.
My sense is that Singer and DeSanto are in an awkward position. They sort of have to walk through a minefield, a fine line between respect of the original show and a desire for them to put their own stamp on the new series. And in this process, there's zillions of fans watching their every move, ready to leap if there's something they don't like. What advice would you give them?
Hatch: Bryan and Tom have an understanding that Battlestar has incredible potential. The art of bringing this back successfully is walking that fine line of bringing new elements to the old elements and doing it in such a way that there's a proper balance and mix of new and old. They're smart, talented and gifted enough to realize what makes Battlestar work and successful. Hopefully, their intelligence will create something that everyone will embrace. But I do believe that the key to success with any classic or remake is not to cut away what works and expand on what works. Don't take away the things that makes it a wonderful show.
After watching X-Men, these two gentlemen know the difference between what works and doesn't work. They also know how to bring substance, story and characters without losing the fun and entertainment value of the project. I think they have the ability to do it. We'll just have to see how they do it.
At this time, is there any message that you would like to convey to Galactica fans?
Hatch: If fans ever wanted to participate in a show they loved, this is their chance to finally take responsibility of their power and leverage. They need to communicate how they feel about all this. Hopefully Tom and Bryan will be listening.
Turning to the Galactica movie trailer, "The Second Coming," that you've created, I'm very interested in the history behind the making of that project. What has been the result of that trailer?
Hatch: For three years we've had standing ovations all over the world. I would say hundreds of thousands of people have seen the trailer. Everyone bought the books. Companies came out of the woodwork to develop new toys, games. The trailer was the most significant Battlestar Galactica event in the last 10 or 15 years.
It's been the most fulfilling, empowering and educational opportunity of my life. It helped me make some wonderful new friends.
Was it fun to get back into the costume? Was it deja vu?
Hatch: It was very deja vu. I had a great time. People came from across the country to be in the trailer. We had fans who built their own costumes to be in the trailer. We had Emmy- and Oscar-winning personnel who grew up on Battlestar come on the set and working for free.
What kind of a shooting schedule did you have?
Hatch: We spent almost 14 months putting it together. About 150 or 200 people worked on it. A lot of money, sweat and creativity. I don't think we even realized how tenacious we would be with the trailer. When we started, we didn't know how much work would be there or how long it would take. We kept going no matter how many times we lost everything, no matter how many times people came aboard and then had to leave because of other projects. We had one nightmare after another. But we ended up having some tremendously talented people who continued to help us.
What was most memorable about that experience?
Hatch: When we were making it, I've never seen people so happy, so honored, so excited to be part of a project that they've grown up with and always wanted to be in it. Here they were on the set being a character on the show or behind the scenes working on it. They were all participating in a show they loved and cared about for so long.
What was it like working with John Colicos, who unfortunately died shortly after that experience?
Hatch: John Colicos was so excited about the possibility of reprising his role as Baltar. When we asked him to be in the trailer, he bent over backwards. When, where, how he would be there. He lives in Canada. He was the most gracious, elegant and wonderful man I had ever met. We had some wonderful people. I think we shot one of the last pieces of work he did before he died. We shot one long scene with him.
Can you tell me about the very first presentation of that trailer to a fan audience?
Hatch: We played it in Atlanta's Dragoncon in 1999, in front of about six or seven thousand people. When we were going to play it, we were very nervous because we didn't know how the fans were going to receive it. They heard a lot of rumors about the trailer for a year and a half. Most of them didn't believe it would really be made because no new footage of Battlestar had been made in over 20 years. Most people believed it was impossible to do it halfway decent because it would cost way too much money. Who would be willing to put that much energy into a project like that without owning it or having any guarantees?
We had a standing ovation for five minutes. I was blown away, and then as we continued to travel the world, to conventions and bookstores, we had a standing ovation.
I'm sure you've got zillions of fan encounter stories, but is there any one story that comes to mind as being particularly memorable?
Hatch: I had an admiral of an aircraft carrier who told me that when Galactica first came out, they brought the ship, from being out at sea, into port so that the entire crew could watch Battlestar Galactica. Just for the show!
What do you have going on in your life right now? What projects are happening at the moment?
Hatch: I just finished a movie called The Ghost with Michael Madsen and Brad Dourif and Cary Tagawa. It will be out this year. It is the story of a young woman who has been raised in the Hong Kong political hierarchy as an assassin. She's been trained from the time when she was a child. She performs a political assassination. She is sent out of the country for her own safety. She is under disguise, living in America, and sent to live with a man who carries on a love affair with her. To get her a cover, she comes to America as a mail-order bride. She marries this computer genius who is played by me. I'm in love with this woman, but she's only there for her own political reasons to hide.
Step by step, those who are out [for] revenge upon her for the assassination keep searching for her. Ultimately, they find her. Thus begins this whole story. My character gets drawn into this whole political conspiracy. Ultimately, both of their lives are at stake. What he doesn't know is that his wife is not this innocent Chinese girl, she is probably one of the most lethal assassins on the face of the planet. She has to defend herself and me from these assassins who are trying to take her life and mine.
I also have The Great War of Magellan that my team and I have developed. It takes place in the Magellanic Cloud, which is the closest galaxy to ours. It's post-apocalyptic. If you could take Braveheart, Mad Max, Matrix and X-Files and put it all together, and weave a totally different story, you'd have The Great War of Magellan.
At what stage is that project right now?
Hatch: We've been filming and doing special effects for 14 months. We should be done in May. This is a trailer presentation that will be 12 minutes long. We're negotiating book deals, a CD-ROM and audiotapes. And we have several companies interested in doing this as both a feature and TV series.
We want to do science fiction that has great story and characters, wonderful writing and great special effects and action. Wrap all those together. It's rare that you find all those ingredients in one film. We have a team of very gifted artists from all over the world who are willing to step out of the comfort zone and do things that most people think are impossible.
I just finished the treatment for the third Battlestar Galactica novel, in the trilogy that I wrote. It will be out this summer.
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