Universal Studios Home Entertainment has announced that the pilot movie Caprica, a prequel to Battlestar Galactica (BSG), will debut 21 April 2009 on DVD. A TV series is expected to debut on Sci Fi Channel (SFC) in 2010.
But I don't think that'll happen now.
I'm taking this as bad news. The Caprica pilot, which is feature-length, was intended to debut on SFC this year, but now it's been "demoted" to a mere DVD release. My guess is that SFC is leery of its appeal and has opted to "wait and see" how well the DVD sells.
Caprica was never a "sure thing," as far as I know from the few things I've read. Despite the success of BSG, Caprica was not immediately greenlighted as a pilot. I'd say it was close to a year until it finally was, but IMHO, the results were less than engaging.
SFC's teaser trailer for Caprica was first posted online, and I remember being confused afterward. It seemed like a hodgepodge of clips that gave no clue as to what the pilot was about. Some time afterward, SFC released a long clip online, detailing star Eric Stolz's guided tour of some super-seedy nightclub, wherein the patrons participated in a plethora of depravity involving sex, drugs and general degeneracy. It was thoroughly unappealing.
But it shouldn't have been. You see, when the idea of a BSG prequel series was suggested, the immediate reply should have been, "Let's tell the story of how the Cylons rebelled against their human creators." For one thing, who wouldn't want to see the original Cylons from the 1970s back on TV?
As far as I can tell, neither of Caprica's trailers featured Cylons lumbering around anywhere. That would have been the obvious teaser. Get the die-hard fans excited! Instead, the story involves a rivalry between two Caprican families: the Adamas and the Greystones.
[This is like Paramount Pictures' ill-conceived sequel to the great Star Trek: First Contact, which featured the popular Borg. Personally, I loved Star Trek: Insurrection, but to trump the Borg, the obvious follow-up story should have involved Q, or tied into the Dominion War story that was happening on TV's Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. But no, Paramount decided to have the battle-ready Enterprise-E ferrying diplomats and searching for a "planet of youth." No, surely no one would have been interested in seeing the Federation's most-technologically advanced flagship in action.]
But I don't think that'll happen now.
I'm taking this as bad news. The Caprica pilot, which is feature-length, was intended to debut on SFC this year, but now it's been "demoted" to a mere DVD release. My guess is that SFC is leery of its appeal and has opted to "wait and see" how well the DVD sells.
Caprica was never a "sure thing," as far as I know from the few things I've read. Despite the success of BSG, Caprica was not immediately greenlighted as a pilot. I'd say it was close to a year until it finally was, but IMHO, the results were less than engaging.
SFC's teaser trailer for Caprica was first posted online, and I remember being confused afterward. It seemed like a hodgepodge of clips that gave no clue as to what the pilot was about. Some time afterward, SFC released a long clip online, detailing star Eric Stolz's guided tour of some super-seedy nightclub, wherein the patrons participated in a plethora of depravity involving sex, drugs and general degeneracy. It was thoroughly unappealing.
But it shouldn't have been. You see, when the idea of a BSG prequel series was suggested, the immediate reply should have been, "Let's tell the story of how the Cylons rebelled against their human creators." For one thing, who wouldn't want to see the original Cylons from the 1970s back on TV?
As far as I can tell, neither of Caprica's trailers featured Cylons lumbering around anywhere. That would have been the obvious teaser. Get the die-hard fans excited! Instead, the story involves a rivalry between two Caprican families: the Adamas and the Greystones.
[This is like Paramount Pictures' ill-conceived sequel to the great Star Trek: First Contact, which featured the popular Borg. Personally, I loved Star Trek: Insurrection, but to trump the Borg, the obvious follow-up story should have involved Q, or tied into the Dominion War story that was happening on TV's Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. But no, Paramount decided to have the battle-ready Enterprise-E ferrying diplomats and searching for a "planet of youth." No, surely no one would have been interested in seeing the Federation's most-technologically advanced flagship in action.]
Maybe Caprica should have been pitched as an addition to ABC's soapy Sunday night lineup, right next to Desperate Housewives.
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Caprica has an 18 episode order from Sci-fi, and will begin filming in August in Canada. (source; Variety)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anonymous, I think I heard something similar. I found a couple of things interesting about your comment, though. First, if "Caprica" has an episode "order" from Sci Fi Channel, then it doesn't mean the order can't be cancelled. Second, filming hasn't begun yet, so that means it may never happen.
ReplyDelete