galaxy quest goes from a fictional series to a real TV series.
Paramount+ has teamed up with its studio counterpart, Paramount Television Studios, for a live-action adaptation of the cult-favorite 1999 sci-fi spoof. Sources say the project is in the early stages of development and a search is underway for a writer for Mark Johnson, the Break bad alum who produced the movie and returns for the scripted update. Johnson and his banner from Gran Via Productions are the only execs currently associated with the project.
Representatives from Paramount+ and the Nicole Clemens-led Paramount Television Studios declined to comment.
This isn’t Paramount TV Studios’ first attempt at adapting galaxy quest for television. The studio first developed a new take on the beloved picture starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell and Enrico Colantoni as a ragtag cast of actors from a space-focused canceled TV show in 2015. That incarnation, a sequel to the film, was sold to Amazon and came with the film’s writer, Robert Gordon, to write the script. Johnson and the picture’s director, Dean Parisot, were also involved in the project that never progressed beyond the development stage.
Paul Scheer took over writing the script from Gordon for Paramount TV Studios and Amazon two years later. Plans for the Amazon acquisition were shelved after star Rickman’s death. “We were ready to sign up, and (then) Alan Rickman died and Tim Allen wasn’t available – he had (d) (Last standing man) – and everyone’s schedule was totally weird. It was going to shoot, like now. And how do you fill that void of Alan Rickman? That’s a hard void to fill,” Rockwell said in April 2016, three months after Rickman died of cancer. Soon after, Allen spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the revival: “galaxy quest is about to come back to life in a very creative way. It’s closer than I can tell you, but that’s all I can say. The real kicker is that Alan needs to be locked out now. It has been a great shock on many levels.”
from Amazon galaxy quest update never progressed beyond the development stages and the title was inactive for the past few years. Now Paramount TV Studios is leading the charge to find a writer to come up with an idea to revive the feature for Paramount+. The streamer happens to be the home of Alex Kurtzman Star Trek world and galaxy quest is in fact a spoof of that franchise.
Johnson, meanwhile, has an overall deal with AMC Studios and oversees the cable network’s Anne Rice franchise. His credits include AMCs Interview with the Vampire, Mayfair Witches, Lucky Hank, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul And Stop and catch fire. He is represented by Ziffren Brittenham.
