Battlestar Battle: Universal is planning a big-screen take on Battlestar Galactica. The movie would be written and produced by Glen A. Larson, who created the cult original; Ronald Moore, who created the critically beloved SciFi Channel version, is so far not involved. Which means the 1378 Papal Schism will be a loud sneeze compared to what’s about to go down in the fanboy community. [HR]
Red-Hot Backstory: John Sayles is on board to write the HBO series based on Anthony Kiedis’ childhood in West Hollywood, when the rocker’s father, Spider, was a wannabe showbiz type and a drug dealer for the likes of the Who and Led Zeppelin. Tentatively titled Scar Tissue, the series will hopefully also tackle the day a young Kiedis first placed his penis inside a tube sock. [Variety]
Instructor Carolla: Adam Carolla will star in CBS’ Ace in the Hole, as a family man who works as a driving instructor. Carolla wrote and developed the concept alongside Jimmy Hench, with whom he has also collaborated on The Hammer and The Man Show. No word yet on when it will be canceled. [Variety]
Shows on Hold: CBS’ Confessions of a Contractor and ABC’s Funny in Farsi and Planet Lucy have been put on hold because cast and director contingencies in their deals could not be fulfilled. Clearly, the only chance of survival for the three shows — an insider’s look at seventies Hollywood, an Iranian girl’s memoir of seventies Newport Beach, and the adventures of a new stay-at-home mom, respectively — is if they band together as one supershow, Confessions of a Funny Planet. [HR]
Vampire Movies Don’t Die: It was pretty clear that Twilight’s success meant the movie’s studio, Summit, wouldn’t stop churning out sequels until a chimpanzee ate Robert Pattinson’s face or something. But the producers just want to be up-front, we guess, which is why Eclipse — that would be the second sequel in the planned series after New Moon, scheduled for November of this year – already has a release date. Mark it down, kids: June 30, 2010. [HR]
Money Talks: “Take Me Home Tonight†rocker Eddie Money’s autobiographical musical, Two Tickets to Paradise, will premiere this summer at the Dix Hill Performing Arts Center in Long Island, with an eye on an eventual run on Broadway. Good luck with that! [Billboard]