Ron Moore talked to Clayton Neuman at AMCTV.com about the Galactica midseason finale, the final 10 episodes, and use of faith and religion in the series. He also briefly mentioned Caprica:
Q: Next you've got Caprica. Are you surprised it took so long for SciFi to greenlight it?
A: I'd literally given up. You hear that a lot from studios and networks: "Well it's not really dead, we're not saying no." But they're saying no. It's never coming back, and I just thought we were in that spot. It's a gamble: We're making a character drama in a science fiction universe that has nothing to do with action/adventure each week. Nobody's been able to pull that one off, and it would be great to do that. It would be another way to validate the genre as supporting interesting and good programming.
SCI FI ordered 20 episodes of Caprica in November. Production will start in mid-2009 and the series is expected to premiere early in 2010.
Battlestar Galactica returns on January 16 at 10 on the SCI FI Channel.
MediaBlvd Magazine has an interview with Avan Jogia, who plays Ben Stark in the Caprica pilot. He talks about the show among other things:
One of the roles that we really want to get into with you is Caprica. We have a lot of fans of Battlestar Galactica here and we have a couple of the actors official sites and we’ve interviewed most of the cast at one point or another. I know we can’t talk about too many spoilers and such, but what can you tell us about it?
Yeah, plot line stuff we can’t get into. But filming Caprica was amazing. I play Ben Stark. He’s a member of a monotheistic cult, which is made up of fanatic religious zealots basically. He is a very dark character because of his intense love for his religion His willingness to do whatever he needs to do to get his ideas across is kind of really dark and hard to play. It was an amazing cast and crew. Jeffrey Reiner is the director, he did Friday Night Lights, and he’s such a visionary. I really can’t wait to see if it goes to series or what’s happening with it. I really want to figure out what happens with the characters, because it sets up a really big cliffhanger. I really want to know what happens.
Is the word still out about whether or not it’s going to go to series? We’ve heard rumors that it might.
There’s no official word yet. There’s been some rumors that it would air on Sky TV in November, but I think it’s most likely that it will air after BSG. There’s no real date. I really hope it goes to series, because I think BSG is such a great show. I watch it a lot and was kind of a nerd for awhile. I think it challenges a lot of interesting ideas like religion and politics and our social interaction. It’s a great show and the most exciting sci fi show I’ve ever watched. I’m not huge into sci fi TV, and that’s something that got me into it.
If you’ve been a fan of the show for a few years, how does it feel to find out that you are going to be right there involved with the origin of the Cylons?
It’s kind of awesome. I started auditioning for the show, and hadn’t really watched it as intensely. Then I got the three series and watched them back to back to back with chips and pop. I really got into it, and it’s so interesting. I’m in the beginning of the Cylon’s. Everything in BSG is based around this prequel.
This is the official Caprica press release with info already covered in previous posts:
SCI FI Channel has greenlit production on the new original series Caprica, ordering 20 hours of the drama including the two-hour pilot, it was announced today by Dave Howe, President, SCI FI. Caprica is the prequel to SCI FI’s hit original series Battlestar Galactica and stars Eric Stoltz (Milk, Chicago Hope), Esai Morales (Jericho, NYPD Blue), Paula Malcomson (Deadwood, ER) and Golden Globe nominee Polly Walker (Cane, Rome).
Set 50 years before Battlestar Galactica, Caprica follows two rival families the Graystones and the Adamas as they grow, compete, and thrive in the vibrant world of the 12 Colonies, a society recognizably close to our own. Enmeshed in the burgeoning technology of artificial intelligence and robotics that will eventually lead to the creation of the Cylons, the two houses go toe-to-toe blending action with corporate conspiracy and sexual politics. Caprica will deliver all of the passion, intrigue, political backbiting and family conflict in television’s first science fiction family saga. Production on the series is slated to begin summer ‘09 in Vancouver for a 2010 premiere. Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights) directed the pilot.
“Caprica will build on Battlestar Galactica’s acclaimed legacy of gripping drama and extraordinary characters,” says Dave Howe in making the announcement. “It’s the beginning of a brand new epic saga that will appeal to both new viewers, totally unfamiliar with the Battlestar franchise, as well as existing loyal and passionate Battlestar fans.”
“Ron, David and Remi have created an amazing series with thought-provoking storytelling that deals with a world very similar to our own. It’s definitely not as dark as Battlestar, but like that show, this series has smart, dimensional characters who grapple with issues of love, sex and politics from a world in transition,” says Mark Stern, Executive Vice President, Original Programming for SCI FI & Co-Head Original Content, Universal Cable Productions.
As the series begins, a startling development is about to occur - the creation of the first cybernetic life-form node or “Cylon” the ability to marry artificial intelligence with mechanical bodies. Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) father of future Battlestar commander William Adama (Sina Najafi) a renowned civil liberties lawyer, becomes an opponent of the experiments undertaken by the Graystones (Eric Stoltz), owners of a large computer corporation that is spearheading the development of these living robots: the Cylons.
Caprica is produced by Universal Cable Productions and executive produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick (Battlestar Galactica) and Remi Aubuchon (24). It is co-written by Aubuchon and Moore and directed by Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights).
Battlestar Galactica executive producer Mark Verheiden says that SCI FI Channel ordered 20 episodes of Caprica for early 2010. He also posted this earlier today:
I wrote the first post-pilot episode a few months ago, so I am fairly familiar with the story and I'll just say -- if you enjoyed the challenging and intriguing world of Battlestar Galactica, you'll love Caprica. That said, it's as different from Battlestar's "feel" as you can imagine, dealing with emotional and science-fiction conceits in an entirely different and very adult way...
In a surprise twist, SCI FI has decided that Caprica will be a series after all and not just a TV movie that may or may not see the light of day.
From Variety:
Having already produced a two-hour backdoor pilot, Sci Fi is aiming for an early 2010 bow for the series, with production starting around the middle of next year, probably in Vancouver, where both "Galactica" and the spinoff's pilot were shot.
" 'Battlestar Galactica' was absolutely our flagship show. It put us on the map and helped transform the perception of the network," said Sci Fi prexy Dave Howe, noting that the cabler hopes to draw a broader audience to a series it sees as more compelling family drama than "space opera."
"We want people to come to this who have never heard of 'Battlestar Galactica,' " he added. "I think, because ('Galactica's') backdrop was space and spaceships, there was a barrier to entry for some viewers. 'Caprica' has none of that. It's an intense family drama set on an Earthlike planet, in the near future, speaking to a lot of the ethical dilemmas that we as a human race are going to have to face very shortly."
"Galactica" has had its fourth and final season in the can for several months, with the final 10 episodes culminating their run March 20. A two-hour movie adaptation, "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan," is slated for early summer.
Mark Stern, original programming topper for Sci Fi and Universal Cable Prods., says waiting until 2010 to bow the prequel will give the producers time to regroup the core of "Galactica's" writing staff, which has largely scattered to other shows.
"One of the other things we have going for is, this is one of the first shows we've done in conjunction with our new cable studio," Stern added. "There will be a lot of coordination between the studio and the network, not just on production, but how the series is launched, as well."
Though Sci Fi once planned to air Caprica in December, it's now on hold, pending the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica. It definitely won't see the light of day until after the BSG series finale ... but also maybe not at all.
Right, because the SCI FI Channel needed to live up to its name this fall by wasting more time and money on reality shows.
Sci Fi has given the green light to Warehouse 13, the first of the three pilots expected to go to series next year. The other two, Caprica and Revolution, are still waiting for the same news.
Warehouse 13 goes into production in February. Sci Fi has ordered 11 episodes to go with the two-hour pilot. David Simkins serves as executive producer. He also helped write the pilot, along with Brent Mote and Battlestar Galactica writer Jane Espenson.
Mark Stern, executive vice-president of programming at Sci Fi said: "This is a perfect companion show for Eureka and it fits into our larger agenda of broadening our network."
Eric Stoltz spoke to iF Magazine about his new show, Blank Slate, and Caprica came up in the interview. Here is the relevant section:
iF: Can you talk about your character in CAPRICA?
STOLTZ: I play Daniel Greystone, a cross between Prospero and Bill Gates, if Bill Gates had a little more money.
iF: It’s been picked up as a full series, hasn’t it? Or is it still waiting for the greenlight from SCI FI?
STOLTZ: I haven't heard a word from them. Your guess is as good as mine.
iF: Are you a fan of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA? How different is it from the original series – it being a prequel and all?
STOLTZ: This is a tricky question. I am indeed a fan of BSG, but CAPRICA really doesn't have much in common with it other than one character who appears as a child in our show and an adult in BSG. There are no space ships, no battles, no constant relentless pursuit. What it shares with BSG is wonderfully rich writing, themes, and characters that are smart and complicated. I hope the BSG fans will enjoy it too, and think of it not so much as a prequel to BSG, but as a distant relative.
iF: If BLANK SLATE did get picked up to series, would that interfere with your role in CAPRICA if that was greenlit, or would you be able to do both?
STOLTZ: I have no idea. Those things are rarely left up to the actors involved.
Caprica has been picked up by Sky One and will be part of the U.K. web's fall schedule. Sky One has bought the TV rights to the Galactica prequel from NBC Universal International Television Distribution and plans to air the two-hour television movie on Sky1 and Sky1 HD in November 2008.
David Smyth, Head of Acquisitions, Sky1, Sky2, Sky3 said: "Battlestar Galactica has surprised and awed audiences with its distinctive style and gripping story-telling. We're thrilled to have secured exclusive rights to the next chapter of this award-winning franchise."
Galactica producer David Eick recently told Newsarama: “[Caprica] looks great. Everyone seems to be cool with it. There’s been no indication of it being picked up as a series yet, but we are hoping.”
The news about Caprica going to series (or not) and the airdate on the SCI FI Channel in the U.S. is expected to come later this month.
SCI FI Channel presented Caprica at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills a couple of days ago. The writers, producers and cast revealed a number of new details about the show and promo just keeps trickling in.
First thing's first. The trailer hit the web yesterday, so here is a first look at the main characters and general tone of the prequel:
SCI FI's executive vice president Mark Stern said the final decision has not yet been made whether Caprica will air as a television movie or a series pilot. The air date has not yet been set because the executives are waiting to see the pilot before they decide whether to show it this fall as a television movie or later - possibly as late as next summer - along with the series if they decide to greenlight it:
“We're going to take a look at it and maybe just order it as a series from there. We are going to take delivery on it in a couple of weeks and then decide whether to air it as a standalone movie or as the premiere of a new series,” Stern said at the press tour. They will get a cut in August, weigh it against the pilots for Warehouse 13 and Revolution, and make a definite decision in September.
SCI FI's president David Howe said that if Caprica does go to series, it will most likely not end after 13 episodes, but grow into a regular series that could go on for years.
Ron Moore, the show's creator, revealed that the opening shot will include a title card saying “Caprica – 51 Years Before the Fall,” saying that the knowledge of the planet's eventual fate will just add extra tension to the prequel. “The idea is to say, all this world you're about to visit is doomed and there's a sense of ominous dread that gathers over all the characters,” he said. "It's about a vibrant society that is at the height of its power and the height of its decadence. It’s going to come apart. It’s sort of like a roller coaster.”
At the panel for the show, Moore also said that Caprica was "shot very different, and I think I was particularly attracted to the idea of doing a science fiction piece that was not built on a foundation of action adventure. It wasn't about Vipers and it wasn't about the Cylons attacking every other week. It was really a character piece. It was really a drama, and you can infuse with a lot of political commentary and a lot of religious overtones and really dig into a people and a society and how and why it all came unglued."
In response to a question about the main character changing his name from Adama to Adams, he said: "Well, we're not playing them as Hispanic, obviously, within the context of the Galactica universe. What we are playing in the show is the idea of assimilation in an immigrant society. The Adamas, we're going to say, came from the planet of Tauron, which is one of the 12 planets of the 12 colonies. And a big part of the pilot and a big part of the show, if we go to show, is this idea of ethnic and racial identification, of here's a group of immigrants that came to Caprica and are struggling with the melting pot versus their own cultural identification. Joseph Adama came, changed his name, has tried to assimilate, and is having struggles about who and what he was exactly. That sort of theme of the clash of these different civilizations and these different cultures will be an ongoing storyline in the series."
Moore also confirmed the rumours about Caprica not being written as a television movie: "It was written as a pilot. It's a pilot. It's not a movie. They have the option to show it as a movie, you always have the option with these two-hour scenarios, they're designed that way so you can show them as a two hour film overseas and on video to protect the company economically. But it was conceived as a pilot. Just the way that Battlestar miniseries was conceived as a pilot – it ends with 'Let's go find Earth, and Sharon is a Cylon, and there are 12 models.' That would have not been a satisfying ending either."
Moore’s partner in crime David Eick added that the emphasis on Caprica will not be on space travel, but on technology and artificial intelligence. What we can expect in terms of looks when it comes to the first Cylons, however, is something that not even Eric Stoltz can say for sure: "I don't know either. It's all created in post-production effects. We acted our scenes with lights tied to poles, kind of like trained seals - 'Look over here! At the bright shiny light!'"
Remi Aubuchon, writer and executive producer, addressed the look of the show (reminiscent of the 1950s) by comparing it to Mad Men, saying that both shows "do a good job of making the viewer realize immediately that you're looking at a different era."
Caprica won't be pervaded with constant references to Galactica and have relatives of BSG characters popping up everywhere - no geek porn of that particular kind - because the colonies are not yet unified under a single government half a century before the Cylon attack that kicked off Battlestar. Moore: "There's no equivalent to Laura Roslin in Caprica, a president who serves all of the people of the 12 Colonies. At this point in the story, they're all disparate and they war against each other periodically."
Talking about the timeline and Caprica being set a few years before the first Cylon war, Moore said: “At the time of the mini-series, we said that no one had seen or heard from the Cylons in 40 years and we never nailed down how many years, so this gives us a little more of a cushion and how the long war took place.”
The prequel will not affect how Galactica plays out because, when the show returns for its final run in January, the story will be complete and all the burning questions answered. There will not be much room for a sequel, as Moore explains: “The way we end Battlestar Galactica doesn't hold itself open to another story. We end that pretty definitively with a sentence that has a period at the end of it,” adding: “We have separated [the two series] out. In the mythos, there’s nothing in Battlestar that has been held for Caprica or vice versa.”
To recap, Caprica tells the story of two families – the Graystones and the Adamas – dealing with a tragic loss. Joseph Adama (Esai Morales), father of Admiral Bill Adama (played by Edward James Olmos on Battlestar Galactica), is a well known and respected lawyer on Caprica. Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) is a wealthy computer scientist whose daughter Zoe (Alessandra Toreson) dies in the same explosion that kills Joseph Adama's wife and daughter. Graystone eventually recreates his daughter's online avatar as the first ever Cylon model.
Eric Stoltz described his character as being “a lot like Bill Gates, only richer,” adding that, between Graystone and Adama, he’d be “hard pressed [to say] one is a good guy and one is a bad guy. What [Caprica] has similar with Battlestar is that there's a gray area. No character is all good or all bad. We all have our gray areas that we live within. But it's interesting that way: You're not quite sure who you should or shouldn't be rooting for." When asked what shocked him the most about the script, he replied: "How smart it was."
He also discussed the Caprica universe: “I think Caprica taking place 51 years before Battlestar happens, it's very similar to our society now. There are no flying cars. There are no spaceships. We're on an Earth-like planet. We wear the same clothes. We have similar problems. Ideally, people will be able to watch Caprica and think, 'This is similar to what we're [doing], to what's happening in the States right now.'”
Another interesting character on Caprica is Sister Clarice Willow, the headmistress of the religious school that Zoe Graystone and her friends attend. She is played by Polly Walker, who was also present at the panel. "There just seems to be so much scope and places that I could go," she said. "It's a very strong character. It's a woman that's on her own in a sense. She's not attached to anybody. And she has very strong convictions, and I think and believe that I can do something equally interesting with it."
Paula Malcomson, who plays Amanda Graystone, also mentioned strength as part of the appeal of the role she has taken on: "I look for roles that are strong women and that are as strong as they are, they're equally flawed where I can create a human being, and I think that is a similarity of these two women, with Trixie [in Deadwood], that I played for a long time, and this woman, Amanda, that I'm just getting to know. And when we started working together, I saw the potential for that to have sort of a long journey with this woman. There's a lot of places to go here."
And it was precisely the courage to go places that played a huge part in the decision to cast Malcomson in the role. Moore: "I know one of the reasons we cast her is based in large part because of the tremendous work that she had done in Deadwood. I think one of the things that we really liked in this performance and in that show in general, was there was a certain fearless quality to what she did, and there was a certain thing that we like to do in Battlestar and that we want to do in Caprica, where we are really willing to push, challenge actors and actresses, ask them to go places that are not typically done in conventional television. So we tried to assemble a cast that we felt could go places with us and that would really take leaps of faith and really be willing to do things that would be truly challenging and still bring an emotional truth to it and that was really of a tremendous appeal to casting Paula in the role."
Finally, Eric Stoltz provided yet another interesting summary of the prequel that's worth quoting: "It's a show that takes place in the not-so-distant future, on a not-so-distant planet, that deals with a family struggling to stay together, class warfare, religion, and our never ending search for meaning in a world that over-values stimulation, consumerism, and facts."
And hopefully we won't get to see it until next summer.
SPACE, Canada’s national science fiction, speculation, and fantasy channel, announced today the exclusive Canadian acquisition of Caprica, the highly-anticipated spin-off pilot of the number one dramatic series on Canadian specialty, Battlestar Galactica. An airdate for the two-hour pilot is still to be determined.
Executive produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick (Battlestar Galactica), and written by Remi Aubuchon (24), Caprica stars Eric Stoltz, Polly Walker (Rome), Esai Morales (Jericho), and Paula Malcolmson (Deadwood). The pilot was shot in Vancouver, BC. A full series has not been greenlit to date.
Caprica delves into events that take place more than half a century before Battlestar Galactica. The citizens of the Twelve Colonies are at peace and living in a society not unlike our own. High technology has changed the lives of virtually everyone for the better and a startling breakthrough in robotics is about to occur. A breakthrough that will bring to life the age-old dream of marrying artificial intelligence with a mechanical body to create the first living robot: a Cylon. Following the lives of two families, the Graystones and the Adamas (the family of William Adama, becomes the commander of the Battlestar Galactica), Caprica weaves together corporate intrigue, techno-action, and sexual politics into television's first science fiction family saga.
Sci Fi has ordered two more Caprica scripts, reports Maureen Ryan at Chicago Tribune, citing a source close to the show.
The writers who will work on the two additional scripts are Battlestar Galactica and Caprica creator Ron Moore,Galactica writers Michael Angeli and Mark Verheiden, and writers’ assistant Ryan Mottesheard, the article continues.
There is no official word yet that Caprica will go to series, but more news on the status of the prequel is expected to come at the TCAs on July 20, when Sci Fi will hold a presentation of the show.
Jeff Reiner (Friday Night Lights), who directed the Caprica pilot, might be in attendance at the event.
Collider has a new review of the Caprica script. Here is a tidbit:
Did you know that Dr. Frankenstein lives on in the world of Battlestar Gallactica? That is the ultimate story being told here. Someone angry at the universe defies the gods in an attempt to bring the dead back to life. There are always consequences. In this case, roughly fifty years later humanity barely hangs onto existence after attempted genocide by robots called Cylons. Still, isn’t some good father-daughter time worth that?
Next week's (July 14-20) issue of the TV Guide features a short article about the Caprica pilot and a picture of the two leading men - Esai Morales (Joseph Adama) and Eric Stoltz (Daniel Graystone) on the set.
Executive producer Remi Aubuchon is quoted as saying:
“Caprica is a sweeping, highly emotional relationship drama – a Rich Man, Poor Man set in a science-fiction environment… The look is nostalgic, almost 1950s, with the men in hats, ties and stylish suits. It’s not about hardware and space battles.”
Kanagawa plays a character named Cyrus Xander. Apart from acting, he is also a playwright and screenwriter. He has made appearances on The X-Files, Millennium, Cold Squad, Smallville and Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda and will be seen in the upcoming remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, to be released in December.
Veena Sood (official site), credited for playing Joan Leyte, is also a versatile actor with a background in theatre, film and television. She had recurring roles on Smallville, Godiva's and Little Mosque on the Prairie and is no stranger to Galactica fans: she was recently seen in Sine Qua Non as one of the Quorum delegates.
Brian Markinson, who plays agent Jordan Duram, is another Canadian film and television actor with a number of credits to his name. His recent appearances include Bionic Woman, Navy NCIS, Psych and The L Word.
One of the extras who was on the Caprica set for the train explosion scene posted a report at ComicRelated.com. Actors Paula Malcomson, Avan Jogia and Genevieve Buechner were spotted on the set.
The train scene is basically what sets the events of Caprica in motion. Avan Jogia plays Ben Stark, a young student converted to monotheism by his teacher, who blows up the train, killing himself, his girlfriend Zoe (Alessandra Toreson), Joseph Adama's wife and daughter, and many other people in the process.
Zoe's father Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) then uncovers an online avatar of his tech savvy daughter and, being a wealthy computer genius, uses it to create the first Cylon model.
Here is a snippet from the report:
The first day we were called to the Vancouver Film Studios where Galactica is shot and, before signing in, were directed to Wardrobe to get our outfits approved. The look was to be “New York, think 1940s”. This was only a general guideline however. Suits and upscale casual wear in muted colors were the order of the day for the men, brighter prints for us gals. But nothing flashy. We were morning commuters heading to work. Props included coffee cups, Caprica Times newspapers, and briefcases all liberally distributed. Most of the men were given fedoras and other brim hats, trench coats abounded.
Doctor and Mrs. Who are reporting that Caprica has already received a 13 episode series order before the pilot has even been filmed.
Kristin at E!Online writes that the "proposed Battlestar Galactica spinoff Caprica (starring Esai Morales, Paula Malcolmson and Eric Stoltz) is officially still just a two-hour movie, but based strictly on the enthusiasm of [Sci Fi Channel president Dave] Howe and NBC Universal chief of cable programming Bonnie Hammer, I'd say that Caprica is getting picked up. Howe wasn't making any promises yet, but he said, 'Based on the casting and the writing and talent involved, I think it's going to be spectacular.' Hammer agrees that it's good stuff: 'The dailies look amazing.'"
The 13th Colony blog has posted the first pictures of the locations where the Caprica pilot is being filmed. To see what a Caprican diner looks like, go here and here.
The screening of the Battlestar Galactica mid-season finale, Revelations, was held at the Arclight Cinemarama Dome in Hollywood the other day, with Ron Moore, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff and Tricia Helfer in attendance.
After the screening they were taking questions from fans and someone asked what the status was on Caprica. This is what they said:
Ron Moore: Not only is it in the works, they're shooting it as we speak. Caprica is being shot in Vancouver right now. Jeff Reiner is directing it. He's one of the directors on Friday Night Lights. Dailies look great. I was up on the set last week. It's very cool, the cast is tremendous, Eric Stoltz and Esai Morales headline the cast. We have high hopes for it. It's a two-hour back-door pilot. We have great hopes that it goes to series and it's a very different piece. It's not this show. It's a different mood, it's a different flavor, it's a completely different concept for a series that lives within the same Galactica universe and we'll just see what happens.
Mary McDonnell: I snuck out of Battlestar the other day, in my nightgown with my IV and I went over to watch Caprica. I, first of all, scared them, because they didn't know who I was, this mad woman with a nightgown and an IV and then they said, 'Mary!' I sat there and watched and it was absolutely thrilling. They were beautiful and adorable and it was startling to watch. I just wanted to share that because we all feel, I don't know, we all feel paternal.
Katee Sackhoff: I was just going to say that they all kind of treat us like their parents. It's very interesting.
The Galactica cast and crew are currently filming the final episodes of season four in Vancouver and the Caprica set is reportedly just around the corner.
For a transcript of the chat (minus Revelations spoilers), go to MovieWeb.
Revelations airs this evening at 10 (Eastern) on the Sci Fi Channel. If you're in the U.S. you can catch the episode on the Sci Fi website in the course of the day.
Caprica is filming in Vancouver and two teenage actors - Avan Jogia and Genevieve Buechner - are hoping for recurring roles if the spinoff goes to series, writes the Vancouver Sun.
Genevieve Buechner is a 16-year-old native of Alberta who already has several notable performances - and several nominations for a Leo Award - under her belt.
She is not yet listed among the Caprica cast on the IMDb, but judging by her age, she will most likely appear as one of the students who attend the Athena Academy along with Zoe Graystone (Alessandra Toreson) and Ben Stark (AvanJogia). Possibly Lacy?
Filming dates for the Caprica two-hour pilot popped up on several sites. Production on the pilot is scheduled between May 22 and June 19.
The IMDb page has been updated to include a release date -December 2008 - as well as some new cast members: Sasha Roiz and Katie Keating.
Roiz will reportedly play Sam, Joseph Adama's gangster brother, and 17-year-old Keating will play a character named Caston.
Other names added to the crew list include Galactica miniseries cinematographer Joel Ransom, production designer Richard Hudolin, costume designer Glenne Campbell and casting directors Heike Brandstatter and Coreen Mayrs.
The rumours that Caprica will most likely go to series in order to deliver a well rounded story also got an update at the end of May, when the Dr. and Mrs. Who cited production sources as saying that Caprica was being pitched to the Sci Fi Channel as a limited run series.
SyFy served another interesting rumour that goes back to Razor, the TV movie released back in November that served as an introduction to Galactica's final season. In Razor, Lee Adama's XO Kendra Shaw encounters a Cylon hybrid who says all kinds of things about Starbuck being the harbinger of death, the Final Five clawing toward the light, etc. Well, SyFy's new source says - and none of this is confirmed, but the rumour is still a big possible spoiler - that the hybrid is none other than Daniel Graystone, the father of the Cylons and one of the two leading characters in the Caprica series.
Finally, speaking of leads, the first picture with several major cast members - Esai Morales (Joe Adama), Paula Malcomson (Amanda Graystone) and Alessandra Toreson (Zoe Graystone) - in one place has emerged on Flickr.
IMDb has updated the Caprica cast page to include 16-year-old Canadian actor Avan Jogia, who will presumably play Ben Stark, Zoe Graystone's boyfriend who becomes a radical monotheist and commits the terrorist act that sets the events that eventually lead to the creation of the first Cylon in motion.
Jogia's most prominent television role so far was Sam on Aliens in America, show recently axed by CW. His complete resume is available on his IMDb page.
The news of the Vancouver-born actorbeing cast on Caprica has not been officially confirmed yet.
SyFyPortal's Michael Hinman has an interesting post about the Caprica pilot and whether or not it stands a chance as a series in light of the fact that it was in development hell for quite a while and would probably not have been greenlit if it had not been for the WGA strike, the popularity of parent series Battlestar Galactica and Ron Moore looking to leave Sci Fi for NBC.
A source told SyFy that the two-hour pilot is not really a self-contained story as much as it is the first episode in a "highly serialized drama which requires a lot of setup:"
"When they did Battlestar, they were given a miniseries that set it all up, and if they had never done a series, you could be happy with that one product. But Caprica is not the same. We're not getting anywhere near the time we need to tell this story in a single production, and I'm worried that fans will watch it and say, 'And?'"
"It's a great story, but we [leave] off right in the middle of the story. There's really nothing wrong with that, if there was a continuation the next week, but it could be months if not longer before any episodes continue the story. It's just not self-contained."
"What they need to do is give us a 10- or 12-hour order. We have to give this show a chance, and we're not doing it any justice by presenting just a small piece and hoping there's enough audience who will stick around to see more next year. It's like starting to watch The Sixth Sense, but turning it off after the first act. There needs to be a stronger commitment to the show."
Other inside sources on Galactica have recently said that Caprica will probably get greenlit even before the pilot airs. If true, the rumour might just put the concerns about the pilot telling an unfinished story to rest.
Wired has a nice, lengthy interview with Battlestar Galactica and Caprica creator Ronald D. Moore.
He briefly mentions Caprica in it, saying: "It's busy. Caprica is going. We're in pre-production. We have a director. They're starting to cast right now."
When asked if he will be running the show, he says: "Well, it's just a pilot for now. There's no order for a series, so there's nothing to show-run. There's just a pilot to produce, and I'm one of the producers. The script has been written for two years, so there's not a lot of heavy lifting on the page."
Finally, he remembers the days when it didn't look like Caprica would ever make it to production stage.
"Oh, I'd given up on it. I'd frankly just given up on it. It was on the back burner. They never said definitively no. They just said, well, not now. And they kept saying, well, not now. You just give up at a certain point. And I was sure it was never going to happen. And then during the writers strike I literally read it in TV Guide that they were doing it. Somebody said, did you see the mention in TV Guide? They're talking about Caprica."
Polly Walker has signed on to play Clarice Willow, the headmistress of the Athena Academy, High Priestess and closeted monotheist who secretly converts her students to the cult, writes Hollywood Reporter.
The English actress was last seen alongside Jimmy Smits and Hector Elizondo on Cane and is best known for playing Atia on HBO's Rome, a role that landed her a well deserved Golden Globe nomination.
Sister Clarice Willow is one of the characters who will be regulars if Caprica goes to series.
Caprica will be filmed in June in British Columbia after production on the fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica wraps, reports film writer Glen Schaefer at Canada.com. The prequel will be set on a "low-tech, earth-like planet."
There are three episodes of Battlestar Galactica left to be broadcast before the mid-season break.
The casting info for the Caprica pilot and series is already out there and the major characters in the pilot who will become regulars if the prequel goes to series have been revealed. Here they are:
DANIEL GRAYSTONE (Eric Stoltz) - A wealthy computer engineer and businessman preoccupied with the idea of designing an intelligent robot. Married to Amanda and father of Zoe, his work doesn't leave him enough time for his family and he is completely oblivious to the life his daughter leads and to her own knack for computer technology.
JOSEPH ADAMS (Esai Morales) - Tauron emigrant, husband of Evelyn and father of Tamara and William, son of a farmer and freedom fighter, and an influential defense attorney on Caprica with connections in the Tauron crime underworld. Changed his name from "Adama" to "Adams" when he first arrived on Caprica to escape prejudice. An authority in his field, he has written at least two books: Law and Mind: The Psychology of Legal Practice and Trial Tactics and Strategies.
AMANDA GRAYSTONE (Paula Malcomson) - a successful Caprican surgeon, married to Daniel and mother of Zoe. After tragically losing her daughter, she turns to her old lover, Tauron computer engineer and her husband's competitor Tomas Vergis, for consolation and to do some good old fashioned industrial espionage.
SISTER CLARICE WILLOW (Polly Walker) - Athenian High Priestess and headmistress of the Athena Academy, a private religious school that Zoe Graystone and her boyfriend Ben attend. A sophisticated woman from a humble background, Sister Clarice is a closet monotheist who uses her position to convert her best students to the cult.
ZOE GRAYSTONE/ZOE-A/ZOE-R (Alessandra Torresani) - Daniel and Amanda Graystone's 16-year-old daughter, converted to the belief in a single god by her school headmistress, proficient at computer science, manages to upload her DNA and memories to a computer and create a hologram of herself - Zoe-A. After her death, her father discovers the avatar to create a robotic version of her - Zoe-R.
WILLIAM ADAMS - Joseph and Evelyn Adama's nine-year-old son who will later fight in the First Cylon War as a viper pilot and eventually lead the survivors of the Twelve Colonies to Earth as the commander of the Battlestar Galactica and admiral of the Colonial Fleet. Described as a reserved child.
BEN STARK/BEN-A - student at the Athena Academy and Zoe Graystone's boyfriend. Introduced to monotheism and the cult Soldiers of One by Clarice Willow, he becomes a radical and blows up the train that was to take him and Zoe out of Caprica, killing them both. But not before his personality is uploaded to a computer, like Zoe's.
Caprica will very likely get the green light to go to series even before the two-hour pilot airs according to anonymous production sources cited by The Doctor and Mrs Who radio on yesterday's show. Fantastic news if it turns out to be true.
The same sources say that we'll be getting an extra dose of the Galactica universe after the show ends in the shape of a trilogy of straight-to-DVD TV movies. This reportedly may have something to do with the news about Galactica creator Ron Moore signing a three movie deal with United Artists.
In the meantime, an interesting interview with Aaron Douglas (Tyrol) has surfaced on the Dreamwatch SciFi site, in which he provides a glimpse into the origin of the Final Five Cylons among other things. What he says sort of contradicts the assumption that the Caprica pilot will deal with the creation of the very first Cylons.
Hollywood Reporter writes that the roles of the remaining two members of the Graystone family – computer genius Daniel and his daughter Zoe – have gone to Eric Stoltz and Alessandra Torresani.
Stoltz hardly needs much introduction. A theatre, big screen and television veteran, he has been a familiar face for well over two decades. His most recent television appearances include those on Close to Home and Medium.
Torresani, who turns 21 later this month, has film and television credits going way back to 1997, and has recently made notable appearances on Bones and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Esai Morales, most recently seen playing Major Beck on the CBS' on-again-off-again post-nuclear drama Jericho, has been cast as Joseph Adama, the attorney at the centre of the Caprica story and father of Admiral William Adama.
The character was most prominently introduced during the Gaius Baltar trial toward the end of Battlestar Galactica season three as a famous defense attorney and man drawn to the hidden side of human nature, driven equally by a sense of justice and by the need to understand the things that make people do the things they do.
In the Caprica pilot, Joseph Adama is in his forties, a Tauron immigrant who has changed his real name "Adama" to "Adams," who has connections to the crime underworld and has used them in the past to protect other Taurons from different forms of prejudice, and generally the kind of man you wouldn't want for an enemy.
After his wife and daughter are killed in an explosion, Adama is left with his nine-year-old son William and befriends Daniel Graystone, a brilliant computer engineer whose daughter is killed in the same attack. Prompted by grief, he reluctantly agrees to help Graystone recreate their daughters in robotic form.
Production on Caprica is scheduled to begin this summer.
Paula Malcomson will play the female lead on Caprica, writes Hollywood Reporter.
The Belfast born actress is best known for her portrayal of Trixie on the HBO series Deadwood. She also had recurring roles on John from Cincinnati, Lost and ER and made appearances on Criminal Minds, Cold Case and Six Feet Under.
Malcomson has been cast as Amanda Graystone, a surgeon who works as a double agent. Initial reports described the character as the unfaithful wife of another Caprica protagonist, computer genius Daniel Graystone, and mother of Zoe, the girl whose personality becomes part of the first Cylon model ever created.
More casting news for the Caprica pilot is hopefully on the way.
Since the big announcement, several script reviews have surfaced online and the writers themselves have revealed some of the major plot points of the pilot for Caprica. More on those later. First, here's a quick overview of the events that led to the pilot being greenlit by the Sci Fi Channel in March as well as some of the basic ideas behind the prequel.
Last October, Caprica was described as "the first science fiction family saga" that will "weave together corporate intrigue, techno action and sexual politics." Built around two families, the Graystones and the Adamas, the series has been conceived as the prequel to the events in Battlestar Galactica, the series that returned for its fourth and final season in April.
David Eick, Galactica executive producer and one of the creative brains behind Caprica, said: "If Battlestar Galactica is Black Hawk Down, I would say that Caprica is American Beauty.“ He continued by saying that the show is “all about the inner lives of the people on a planet and how their personal relationships as well as their professional relationships inform what will become the creation of the Cylons. It's a political story, a family story. It’s about the creation of the Cylons, and it’s about a company. It’s planet-based. It’s very character-oriented, very serialized and very much about the characters. It’s a whole different genre, and that’s what makes it exciting.”
It was Remi Aubuchon who originally pitched the idea for the series, an allegory about slavery with robots, to NBC/Universal independently of the Galactica series. NBC people put Aubuchon in touch with Galactica creators Ron Moore and David Eick, who were already considering a spin-off, and the idea for the new show was born.
In spring 2006, Aubuchon described Caprica to Dreamwatch Magazine: "This is a very human story about how our own hubris can lead us to disaster," adding that, while the new series would not be dependent on Battlestar Galactica, "certain elements have been embedded into the first few episodes of season three" of BSG that would be explored in Caprica.
In November 2006, Ron Moore shed some more light on the new series:
It's actually a prequel, and this would be a one hour pilot not a mini – series. It takes place 50 years before the events of Battlestar Galactica and it's essentially about the creation of the Cylons.
It's a very different show; it's not action – adventure and it's not even in space. It takes place on the Planet Caprica and it’s more of a family drama, with political and corporate intrigue. We're well into the writing of it actually; we're doing re-writes on the script right now and Sci Fi has been very happy so far. At the moment, we're just waiting to see if they greenlight it or not.
Generally, there’s always a two step process: there's ordering the pilot and then there's ordering the series, but because we're not designing it as a mini – series, I don't know that anybody would even see the pilot if they chose not to go to series with it.
Tonally, it will be very different. This is Caprica before the fall. It's a decadent world, but also a world that's going at a very fast pace. It's a prosperous society that hasn’t experienced the devastation of the first Cylon war yet, so this culture has really not been taken down a peg, and their hubris is getting the better of them. It's a go – go society that's teetering on the brink, so it’s not that apocalyptic survival scenario of Galactica. The whole thing is tonally very different.
In March 2007, Moore told Salon.com's Laura Miller:
"It was a different kind of show. Instead of an action-adventure sci-fi piece, it was more of a prime-time soap, a sci-fi Dallas."
Caprica was stuck in development hell and went through a number of rewrites before it was seriously considered again in late 2007. The decision to give the show a chance came as a result of several factors: the writers' strike left Sci Fi in shortage of finished scripts to produce, Ron Moore was looking to leave for NBC and the channel was also looking at the sales of Razor, the direct-to-DVD movie that explored the circumstances behind the events on battlestar Pegasus, introduced in mid-season two.
The Caprica series is currently in pre-production at the Sci Fi Channel. The two-hour pilot, greenlit in March, will be directed by Jeff Reiner.
SCI FI Channel issued the press release announcing the production of the Caprica pilot on March 18, 2008. Here is the original announcement:
SCI FI GIVES 'CAPRICA' THE GREENLIGHT
Two-Hour Backdoor Pilot for 'Battlestar Galactica' Prequel Series To Begin Production this Spring
New York, NY – March 18, 2008 -- As the Peabody and Emmy-winning original series Battlestar Galactica heads into its fourth and final season, SCI FI Channel has greenlit production on Caprica, a two-hour Battlestar backdoor pilot prequel from executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick. Production on Caprica is slated to begin in Vancouver this spring.
"We couldn't be more excited to see this long-anticipated project get off the ground. It's an amazing script, and, though clearly inspired by the Battlestar mythology, it is not just a pale spin-off. This is a smart, thought-provoking, emotional, and compelling character drama in its own right," said Mark Stern, Executive Vice President of Original Programming.
Set 50 years before Battlestar Galactica, Caprica follows two rival families – the Greystones and the Adamas – as they grow, compete, and thrive in the vibrant world of the 12 Colonies. Enmeshed in the burgeoning technology of artificial intelligence and robotics that will eventually lead to the creation of the Cylons, the two houses go toe-to-toe. Caprica will deliver all of the passion, intrigue, political backbiting, family conflict and hardcore action that always leaves Galactica fans begging for more.
"I'm thrilled with the chance to expand on the Galactica world and get deeper into the origins of the story we've been telling," said Moore. "It's also great to have a chance at doing a completely different kind of science fiction series, one that's even more character-oriented and doesn't rely on pyrotechnics to carry the story."
"While Caprica will have its own personality, it will carry on Battlestar's commitment to pushing the boundaries of the genre, and we're thrilled that SCI FI has seen fit to giving us another opportunity to tell character-driven stories in challenging ways," added Eick.
Executive produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick (Battlestar Galactica), Caprica is co-written by Moore and Remi Aubuchon (24), and will be directed by Jeff Reiner (Friday Night Lights). Universal Media Studios will produce.
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