‘Battlestar Galactica’ Reboot From Sam Esmail Taps ‘The Sinner’ Creator Derek Simonds as New Showrunner

Derek Simonds has joined Sam Esmail’s Peacock reboot of the sci-fi series “Battlestar Galactica,” TheWrap has learned.

Simonds, who’s behind the Emm-nominated USA series “The Sinner,” will serve as writer, executive producer and showrunner, NBC confirmed on Friday.

“Mr. Robot” creator Esmail is producing the reboot through UCP (former Universal Cable Productions) and his own Esmail Corp, alongside Chad Hamilton. It’s been in development since 2019.

The IP first saw life in the ’70s as a single-season show starring Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict and Lorne Greene.

Ron Moore’s 2003 “Battlestar Galactica” was a grittier more serious affair that began as a miniseries on Syfy (then known as the Sci-Fi Channel). After being picked up to series, it ran from 2004 to 2009.

The series was set in a distant star system as humans battled evil android Cylons. The cast included Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, Tricia Helfer and Grace Park.

It was followed by 2010 prequel spinoff series “Caprica,” which starred Alessandra Torresani, Eric Stoltz, Paula Malcomson and Esai Morales.

Ten episodes of web series spinoff, “Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome,” were released in November 2012.

Simonds developed the Emmy-nominated “The Sinner” crime series for USA. The first season starred Jessica Biel as a murder suspect who didn’t know why she stabbed a man to death on the beach and Bill Pullman as the detective who went to extraordinary lengths to solve the case. The three following seasons revolved around Pullman’s character trying to puzzle out equally mystifying murders.

Simonds is repped by WME and Zaftig Films.

Esmail’s mindbending hacker drama “Mr. Robot” ran on USA from 2015 to 2019, netting star Rami Malek an Emmy in 2016.

Most recently, Esmail directed and produced the 2023 Netflix disaster movie “Leave The World Behind,” which starred Mahershala Ali, Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke. He is repped by CAA and McKuin Frankel Whitehead.

Deadline first reported the news.

The post ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Reboot From Sam Esmail Taps ‘The Sinner’ Creator Derek Simonds as New Showrunner appeared first on TheWrap.