A TV series based on the hit comedy film Galaxy Quest has been an idea for a while, just one that hasn’t been able to come to fruition. A TV adaption of the movie almost came to fruition a few years ago, before the unfortunate death of Alan Rickman put plans on hold.
However, the show is back in development, this time at Amazon. The film’s screenwriter Robert Gordon was previously heading up the revival, but Paul Scheer (The League) will now take over for the new incarnation.
The new project is being described as a “new take” on the series, and though previous plans had the original cast returning to their roles, the series is now set to be based on the original film but feature a whole new cast of characters.
The original film starred Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tim Allen and Sam Rockwell, and Rockwell said last year how the series with the original actors almost came together:
“We were ready to sign up, and Alan Rickman passed away and Tim Allen wasn’t available — he had [Last Man Standing] — and everybody’s schedule was all weird. It was going to shoot, like, right now. And how do you fill that void of Alan Rickman? That’s a hard void to fill”.
It seems like producers agreed with Rockwell and decided to forgo filling the void of Rickman and go with a new cast instead. The show will still have the same general plot as the film, as a group of actors from a fictional sci-fi series end up meeting invading aliens who don’t know the difference between entertainment and real life.
There’s still plenty of connections to the original film, as Gordon, while not screenwriting, will still produce the show alongside the film’s producer Mark Johnson.
Galaxy Quest might have some competition though, as Seth MacFarlane‘s The Orville is set to debut soon: a Star Trek homage that seems to have a similar vibe to the original Galaxy Quest film. Amazon will be hoping the ingrained fans of the film will follow it into the world of streaming television, even without its original stars.
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