I don’t know how we missed the story that one of the driving forces behind one of CHUD’s favorite shows, Battlestar Galactica, will be making a pilot based on The Children of Men (the P.D. James book, not the movie). But there it is.
If the story weren’t exciting on its own, it certainly becomes so when you see the direction Eick intends to go with it. From Sci Fi Wire:
“It’s really taking root more in the origins of the novel in that it will focus on the cultural movement in which young people become the society’s utter focus,” Eick (Battlestar Galactica) said in an interview at SCI FI Channel’s upfront presentation to advertisers in New York on March 18. “Much like our culture, whenever Lindsay Lohan does something [and] it becomes the headline of every news show, it’s about how, when you don’t have a responsibility to the next generation and you’re free to do whatever you want, where do you draw the line?”
He also added, “It’s not really a war show like the movie was. It’s more an exploration of that issue.”
What this means, as far as I can tell, is that the show will be about the world before the miracle child is born. The look we got at that world in Alfonzo Cuaron’s film was quite fascinating, and as Eick says, that’s a premise that is rife with possibilities for great drama and social commentary.
It’s probably no coincidence that Eick also came out and said on the same day that Bionic Woman is done. Hopefully, this new show will be able to avoid the kind of behind-the-scenes bullshit that one did.
Even though Battlestar is coming to an end this year, Eick is going to be one busy dude, what with the announcement at the Upfront that Caprica has been officially greenlit (did we do a story about that?) and is expected to go on air this year. Of course, this means that we might actually have two new excellent science fiction shows on the air at the same time if Children of Men comes to fruition, which would be a huge win for the nerds. And the world in general, really, even if they don’t realize it.