X-Men: Dark Phoenix director to write Battlestar Galactica movie

(Image credit: NBC)

Universal’s Battlestar Galactica movie now has a writer onboard. Variety report that Simon Kinberg will pen the screenplay, and will also produce the movie.

Kinberg has already got some impressive sci-fi experience – he directed X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and produced Logan, Deadpool 2, The Martian, and more. He’ll be working alongside co-producer Dylan Clark, who produced Matt Reeves’ Planet of the Apes trilogy and has the same role on Reeves' The Batman.

If those genre credentials aren’t enough to get you excited for the project, Kinberg shared his enthusiasm in a statement, reading: “‘Battlestar Galactica’ is one of the holy grails in science fiction, and I couldn’t be more excited about bringing something new to the franchise, while honoring what’s made it so iconic and enduring.”

He added: “I’m so grateful that Dylan and my partners at Universal have trusted me with this incredible universe.”

Previously, Jay Basu and Lisa Joy due to write the project, but reportedly Kinberg will be starting fresh – so we can expect an entirely new version of the screenplay. This iteration of Battlestar Galactica has been in the works for a long time. Bryan Singer, another X-Men director, was attached to direct way back in 2009 – but he no longer appears to be working on the project. Francis Lawrence almost took on directing duties in 2016.

The project has been through several writers, which might not be a great sign – but Kinberg’s excitement to be working on the movie is reassuring.

There’s no casting details or release date for the film yet, so we’ll probably be waiting a while to see the movie on the big screen. Until then, check out our roundup of the 30 best sci-fi movies of all time.

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.