A new Galaxy Quest TV show is in the works
By Grabthar's hammer, maybe this attempt will work out better than the last one
Many years ago, Amazon was developing a TV sequel/spin-off of cult-classic sci-fi satire Galaxy Quest that would’ve seen the cast of the original film—Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, and Daryl Mitchell—returning to reprise their roles as actors from a Star Trek-esque sci-fi show who get wrapped up in a real sci-fi adventure. That project was put on hold after Rickman’s death, but a few attempts were made in the years after that to keep it going (including one led by Paul Scheer that he pitched as the Force Awakens of Galaxy Quest stories).
That never ended up happening, possibly because The Orville did its straight-faced Star Trek thing and also Black Mirror did its dark meta Star Trek thing around the same time (2016-2018 was the peak of “let’s do a riff on Star Trek”), but now it might be happening again… for the first time. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount+ is working on a “live-action adaptation” of Galaxy Quest with Mark Johnson, an executive producer on the original film who also worked on Breaking Bad.
THR says a “search is underway” to find another writer to join him (probably one with writing credits, no offense to producers), but that’s about all we know. The implication from THR’s phrasing, though, is that this will be a redo of the plot of the movie, rather than a sequel (like the earlier projects), so it seems unlikely that Allen or Weaver or any of the other cast members will be in it—which is a shame, because the cast of the original movie is great, even without Rickman and even if we have all gotten out fill of Tim Allen.
But whatever. Time marches on, and at least this will give more people an excuse to watch Galaxy Quest.