Never Give Up, Never Surrender… On a Franchise! Paramount Television has ordered an adaptation of the cult sci-fi-spoof classic, which will be produced by Mark Johnson under his Gran Via Productions banner.
Never give up, never surrender a franchise! According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount Television has ordered a series adaptation of the cult sci-fi-spoof classic Galaxy Quest, which will stream on Paramount+. The project is reportedly in early pre-production, with a search for a writer currently under way.
The original Galaxy Quest film followed an alumni cast of a space opera television series who play their roles in real life when an alien race needs their help. However, they also must defend both Earth and the alien race from a reptilian warlord.
The film starred Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell and Enrico Colantoni, with a script by David Howard and Robert Gordon.
The upcoming series is not the first planned adaptation project for the franchise. A sequel was in development with Amazon with the film’s original writer Gordon and director Dean Parisot attached. The film was also set to star the original cast as the washed-up group of actors. Unfortunately, development was put on ice after Rickman’s tragic passing in 2016.
In a 2016 comment about the wayward sequel, Rockwell explained, “We were ready to sign up, and [then] 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.”
The Galaxy Quest series will be produced by Mark Johnson under his Gran Via Productions banner. No other execs have been announced.