Ronald D. Moore (photographed at this year’s Nebula Awards weekend), creator of the SciFi Channel’s new incarnation of Battlestar Galactica, has just signed a “two-year, seven-figure overall deal with Universal Media Studios (UMS),” according to Variety. The agreement calls for Moore to continue on BSG through its conclusion next year, while simultaneously developing projects for the studio, with a fall 2008 series not out of the question. Among the projects Moore is expected to write are the sequel to I, Robot for 20th Century Fox and a new version of The Thing for Universal.
New UMS president Katherine Pope said keeping Moore was one her priorities when she took the job in May. “Ron is one of those people who comes along very, very rarely, who knows how to create shows that are form-breakers. To me, Battlestar Galactica is an operatic political soap opera before it’s sci-fi. It’s rooted in character and grounded in political and social worlds. I don’t think of it as a genre show.”
Moore said he’s interesed in expanding beyond the genre boundaries. “As a writer, you want to stretch different muscles. I want to push myself to do different things.” A comedy series is one of the things he’s considering, though he hasn’t ruled out more sf work, whether something new or another adaptation. “It sort of depends on what it is,” Moore said. “My first instinct is to do something new, but I’m not averse to doing a new spin on something else. I will be as curious as you to see what my next project is.”
UMS also has a long-term agreement with BSG executive producer David Eick, who is working on the upcoming version of The Bionic Woman.