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The Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming project was a proof-of-concept professionally-created mock movie-trailer created, produced, directed, and starred by Original Series star and Galactica spin-off author Richard Hatch. Under his production company, Su-Shann, Hatch leveraged the talent of many TOS stars, including the late John Colicos, in an effort to convince Universal Studios, the owners to the rights of the Battlestar Galactica franchise, to greenlight a new series or motion picture.
The highly-elaborate trailer features new concepts, impressive acting, and very exciting special effects. Hatch visited many science-fiction conventions to show the trailer and it proved to be a hit among fans that viewed it.
However, Hatch never succeeded in getting Universal's attention. The BSG project revival would be first given to Tom DeSanto and X-Men director Bryan Singer in coordination with Fox Studios and USA Television in 2001. After that project dissolved primarily due to the withdrawal of Fox Studios as well as Singer's commitment to a second X-Men movie, USA Networks chose Ronald D. Moore and David Eick to create a new project, which would be a near-complete rewrite of the series, with familiar names, characters, and places, but with none of the original actors as their original characters, and with a much darker overtone.
Despite initial doubts about the series, Richard Hatch was happy to join the new Battlestar Galactica TV series cast as the recurring character of terrorist-turned-politician Tom Zarek.